Mr Gold's Flower
by Anima Terrum
Summary: The flower of his heart. His love, the reason why he will never be able to hold onto love ever again.
1. Meeting Mr Gold

She has the most beautiful bright blue eyes; no one could deny that simple fact. They shine a little brighter whenever she smiled, but held a cold look without a smile. He always liked it better when she smiled those striking blue eyes were unnerving to look at without the extra shine and shimmer. It was the type of smile that believed that even he couldn't be a bad person and that he was innately good on the inside. Secretly he hoped that even if the curse were to be released, he could still remain close to her. But, of course, the good always win and people like him would always loose.

Even in the past her eyes never really fit her character, or so he thought. He would have preferred a green shade or even a honey golden color for her eyes, and for those reasons he would end up making the most regrettable deal ever.

Ivy the Flower Fairy is now known as Eirys the owner of the Green Fairy Flower Shop in Storybrooke, Maine. She, like everyone else, retained most of her former personality and she still had those disturbingly blue eyes that he secretly detested.

"Welcome to the Green Fairy, how can I help you today?" Eirys asks placing a freshly cut flower as a page marker before glancing up at her next customer. "Mr. Gold, you're early this month. Would you like to stay for some tea?" Being the owner of the flower shop next door to his pawn shop, he always collected her rent last. It also gave him something to look forward to on rent collecting days.

"That would be lovely." Mr. Gold says collecting the rent money from her. He flips the 'open' sign around and follows Eirys into the flower shop's back room where paisley green cushioned metal chairs were carefully placed around a circular mahogany table. "What kind of tea will we be having today?"

"I was thinking of Blue Mallow tea." She sets some water into a kettle to boil and spoons some dried herbs into a clear teapot, adding some extra herbs for flavor. For a moment, there was a comfortable silence settling between the two. "Will you be spending Thanksgiving on your own again?"

"That was the general plan." Mr. Gold replies, watching her pour the boiling water over the tea leaves. She sets the matching clear teacups and saucers on a silver tray along with a pot of honey. She also adds a small bowl of lemon slices before bringing the tray to the table. "Will you be spending it with that boyfriend of yours, the surgeon was it?"

He cringes a bit when he said the word 'boyfriend', he never really liked the surgeon in the first place, and the dislike grew even more when he found out that Eirys was dating the loathsome man. "No, I didn't really want to keep a broken relationship going. It would never have worked out between us."

"I see." Mr. Gold says taking a teacup from the tray and sipping its contents slowly. The teacup also hid the small smile that appeared on his face when he heard the news.

Eirys gently takes the cup back with a small teasing glare. "I wasn't done making it." She puts a small spoonful of honey into the cup and a few squirts of lemon to turn the tea into a rosy pink color. "You could join me here, no turkey though."

Mr. Gold shrugs noncommittally, "Why not?" he was never one to actually enjoy holidays with other people; therefore, his pawn shop was always open, even when there would be no customers. He secretly smiles once again as he raises the cup to his mouth, despite the curses effect of erasing everyone's memory; she was still very much the same. Even in the fairy tale world, she refused to eat anything that came from animals.

Eirys pours herself a cup of tea, adding the honey and lemon to it before settling down across from Mr. Gold, enjoying the silence that came with his presence. Despite their jobs requiring them to constantly converse with others, Eirys thoroughly enjoyed the silence in which she could enter her own special mind palace without the interruption of others.

"Why did you breakup with him?" Mr. Gold suddenly asks, his curiosity getting the better of him. He takes a sip of tea so he wouldn't accidentally continue talking and reveal something he wouldn't want her to know about.

She glances up at him with a surprised look on her face. Of course the question was unexpected since Mr. Gold had never shown much interest in her personal life or in anyone else's personal life. He just knew things about the other townsfolk. "He thought that I was spending too much time working at the store and not enough time with him. All the times that we did go out, he would just ramble on about how successful his career is. He was very narcissistic."

And with that, the entire conversation was dropped and the two of them returned to the best way they knew how to communicate, by silently pondering what could possibly be going on in the head of the person who sat across the table. They mutually recognized the time as their time, the time of them to be near someone they could always trust and to sit in that person's presence with awe. It was a sort of ritual that became their time. And of course, that time would end much too soon as the old grandfather clock in the corner struck the hour, calling an end to their time once again.

"I truly must get going." Mr. Gold says. Eirys places the glass tea set in the sink to wash later and walks him to the store door. She scoops up a small potted plant as they pass the cashier.

Eirys could feel a flush creeping onto her cheeks as she hands the flower to him, her hand brushing up against his. "It's a freebie. It has a strong fragrance when it blooms, you can put it in your office when you work on those old books."

Mr. Gold gently take the flower and with a curt nod towards her, he heads back into the chilly fall wind and take the short walk back to his store.

"_Saphira, you're always late." The dark haired girl scolds the panting blonde who had just ran from her own house to the meeting hall just to make it there before the ceremony began. _

"_Oh relax, Ivy." She says, catching her breath and finding two empty seats near the back of the room. "I couldn't find my good cloak and they're still fairies coming in."_

_Saphira tugs on the collar of her sky blue cloak, which represented her ability to grant wishes. The light color contrasted oddly with Ivy's own dark foresty green cloak for earth type magic. "Aren't you excited to finally leave this place? We can go out explore, stay up late, and eat anything we want."_

_Between the two friends, Saphira had always been the more adventurous one, wanting to explore the forbidden caverns and solve all the mysteries of life. Ivy, on the other hand, was the shy timid one who worried about the consequences of her friend's actions. "We don't get to leave until the fall, remember?" Ivy whispers as the ceremony began with singing from the ancient fairy book of Lore. _

_After the singing all the fairies had to line up to wait their turn to be given their new names. They all fidgeted in line as their parents tried to give them reassuring smiles. Their new names would represent their magic and spread their reputation throughout the lands. "I heard that the Ogre Wars are starting to get worse." A male fairy whispers to them, his red cloak symbolizing his fire magic. "Kingdoms are even asking for fairy aid in enchantments and to even fight on the front lines."_

_Saphira and Ivy pass worried glances; humans were always fickle creatures who sometimes take advantage of a fairy's kindness, especially fairies with strong magic. It was one of the many reasons why a fairy had to come of age and specialize in magic before they could leave the protective Fairy Grounds. Humans were also not allowed to ever be on the Fairy Grounds, if that were to happen, said human would be terminated and any fairies that helped the human get onto the grounds would be exiled. _

_Ivy gives Saphira a little nudge as the blonde's turn came up. Saphira throws her shoulders back and marches up to the podium where the book of Names sat. She touched the book with her hand, letting her magic pass into the book, the book glows a bluish hue. A deep booming voice echoes from the book. "You will now be named the Blue Fairy." The audience and other unnamed fairies burst into applause, to be named after one's magic was reserved to the most promising fairies. _

_Ivy sighs inwardly, gingerly taking a step up to the book. She slowly reaches her hand to touch the crinkled worn surface of the book, adding a bit of green magic. The book glows a pale emerald green. "You will now be named the Flower Fairy." Saphira starts the applause with her unladylike screams and catcalls. Ivy walks down the other side of the stage and hurries over to her best friend, her head bowed low in embarrassment. _

"_That was so embarrassing." Ivy whispers her face turning redder than a fire fairy's cloak, her pale skin didn't help. Saphira grabs her hands practically jumping in her seat. _

"_In three more months starts the beginning of our lives." Saphira goes into her little day dreams about the world outside of the Fairy Grounds. She didn't believe in anything she couldn't see. "The first thing I'm going to do is talk to a real human who has real problems. Then I'm going to find a place to stay, or maybe I'll just camp outside in the forest." She rambles on and on about the future possibilities. _

_Ivy just nods and smiles, Saphira was capable of holding a conversation by herself and will later claim that she had been talking to someone else the entire time. Ivy thinks about the world outside, the only experience she had been through story books and pictures her parents had showed her. "Hello, Ivy you there?" Saphira waves her hand in front of Ivy's face. "Everyone's leaving for lunch, if we don't hurry all the good food is going to be taken."_

"_At least some things never change." Ivy says getting out of her seat. "Let's go feed that bottomless pit you call a stomach." Outside the ceremony hall was an array of food and drinks. _

"_I just thought of something." Saphira announces licking the last bits of her blue icy treat. "Do you even know how to do flower magic?"_

_Ivy glances over at her mischievously, her blue eyes casting an evil glaze over her face. She waved her hand over the ground; a green colored mist seems to flow from her fingers, nurturing the earth. A small green sprout pushes through the grass, quickly growing into a thornless blue rose. "Here, a present for our new Blue Fairy." Ivy plucks the rose off its stem and tucks it behind Saphira's ear. The rest of the stem shrivels back into the ground. _

"_Of course, your eyes are much more beautiful than mine." Saphira says taking the rose and tucking it behind Ivy's ear. "See, even the rose pales in comparison." _

_Ivy glances into her glass of water. Piercing blue eyes stare back at her. The blue rose in her dark brown hair seemed much paler than it was when it was placed behind Saphira's blonde hair. The other fairy folk felt unnerved by her eyes, their attention always focused on something above her head when they talked to her. Sometimes, even her reflection scared her. _

She always found it strange that the people of Storybrooke feared Mr. Gold of all people. Something about him made others weary of his actions and they avoided him like a plague, but to her, she found him interesting yet mysterious despite the number of years they had known one another.

To be exact, Eirys couldn't be precisely sure as to when they first met, but she could clearly remember the start of their time. It was a point in her life where she didn't have many friends, they all drifted away from her, and the over all business of her flower shop was slow, almost to the point where she couldn't even break even.

It was a warm winter morning, a few weeks before the rent collection. "Ah, hello Eirys, how rare it is to see you." Mr. Gold greeted as she stepped into his slightly dusty pawn shop. Eirys nodded towards him and slowly made her way around the store. The porcelain tea sets sitting behind glass cases had caught her eye immediately. Mr. Gold could clearly see the joy in her eyes and took out a few sets. "You have a key eye for good merchandise. I can sell you one for a good price."

"I have no money at the moment." Eirys replied, gently caressing a teacup with a blue rose design on it, "perhaps another day." She slowly sets the teacup back onto its matching saucer.

Mr. Gold gently takes the tray with the blue rose tea set on it and places it on the highest shelf in the cupboard behind the counter. "Then it'll be right here until you can make your purchase."

It was rare for her to receive any kindness. Her life at the moment was very rough, she had just moved out of her parent's home and settled into the living space connected to the rundown flower shop. All her friends from her childhood had moved on with their lives and were generally not interested in keeping in touch with the green thumbed girl. And she had little to no money in her name or in her business.

But for some reason Eirys didn't feel too worried about it. It was almost as if she knew that something good was going to happen that was going to change her life for the better. Or it could have been her unconscious telling her that she'd get a lot more customers after pipes broke at the local candy shop around Valentines Day. The next day all the boyfriends and husbands were at her door buying roses for their girlfriends and wives.

"Eirys, I was wondering when you going to stop by." Mr. Gold said when she entered a few days after the Valentines Day rush. It always seemed as if no on ever came to the pawn shop, yet it never looked like he was having financial problems. But then again, he did own the entire town. "The tea set is still here if you want it." He pulled the tea set from its place on the shelf.

"I'm probably going to end up right back where I started, poor with no customers." Eirys joked picking up a tea cup and looking at the design. "But at least I have something beautiful to look at. And drink out of."

"You enjoy drinking tea?" It was probably this question that had sparked the creation of their time. Despite the locations of their respective shops, they had no apparent similarities.

Eirys nods, a happy smile on her tired face. "It's a secret and expensive hobby of mine. In high school I had two part time jobs in order to pay for all of my tea. It drove my parents crazy."

Mr. Gold chuckled; the thought of this originally very modest and shy girl actually talking animatedly about a single topic was very amusing to say the least. "I can imagine that." He rings up the price for the tea set, which was very reasonable for her situation.

"Perhaps you could join me for morning tea once in a while." Eirys said, watching Mr. Gold's slender fingers carefully wrap each piece in newspaper. "Busy is usually slow in the mornings and teacups were made for more then one person."

It was as if Eirys didn't fully understand what she was saying. Not even a blush graced her sharp cheeks after her comment, just curious icy blue eyes staring into his brown ones. "Perhaps." He replied, regaining his composer and handing her a bag with her tea set inside.

_Stealth was the key at that moment. There was nothing suspicious about a young fairy sneaking into the forest behind her house during the height of the summer afternoon when all others would be napping or lounging. _

_Ivy checks over her shoulder the fifth time in a span of a few minutes before carefully stepping over a fallen tree. She could feel a certain coldness coming from the tree that told her that it had been dead for some time. Wind specialized fairies could tell of a storm brewing just by the smallest shift in the air, and Water specializers could tell where a prime area for a well could be just by listening to the river. Earth specializing fairies like her self were more connected to their magic; they could feel the pain of forest fires, the coldness of dead trees, the joy of the first blooming flowers, and any other emotion the earth could feel. _

_Because of the link between her own magic and the earth meant that she had the watch her emotions. If she were to get suddenly angry, the branches of the trees could lash out, thinking that her own life was in danger. _

_The first time she had gone through the forest was many years ago after a misunderstanding with Saphira. She didn't understand the dangers of the world, and she expected her best friend to understand her passion for the unknown as well._

"_What do we have here?" Ivy whispers under her breath at the sight of an unfamiliar person sitting under her tree. In the clearing was a grand old tree, its old trunk holding itself up with pride, and its branches strongly bracing against the wind. "And who might you be?" _

_She tiptoes around the back of the tree to get a better view of the person. His skin was tinted a slight golden color for some reason, his brown hair was matted with blood, and red blood was flowing freely through a wound on his head. "Who's there?" He croaks out, wincing when she pressed her handkerchief to his wound. _

"_Don't worry." She replies, applying pressure to his wound. "My name is Ivy, I'm the Flower Fairy. What's your name?" She kneels next to him, tucking her sundress under her legs. _

_He glances at her, inspecting her face for hidden intentions. "Bae, my name is Bae." _

"_It's very nice to meet you, Bae." Ivy removes the cloth as the bleeding finally stops. She waves a hand over a grass, small white flowers sprout from the ground. "My parents told me that if you crush these flowers and put them on your cuts, they'll heal faster." She rubs the crushed flowers into his cut. "I've never seen you in the Fairy Grounds before."_

_Bae shakes his head. "I'm just passing through." The less she actually knew about him the better; after all, if she didn't recognize him then no one would be able to find him. "But I'm not a human if that's what your wondering under that brown hair of yours." He weakly taps the top of her head. _

"_I know that." Ivy replies finding herself actually enjoying the pat. It wasn't a pat that was mocking of her young age, but rather one between siblings. "But you do have magical abilities. You wouldn't be able to get in here if you didn't."_

"_All magic comes with a price." He mumbles, closing his oddly large golden eyes, the blood loss causing him to loose consciousness. _

_Ivy had been hoping to spend the afternoon alone in her secret place, but she found herself liking the stranger instead of being frightened by him. He wasn't fussy like most of the other fairies she knew, yet he didn't have the arrogance of humans. _


	2. Fall with Mr Gold

It snuck up on him when he least expected it. Or rather, he hadn't been paying much attention to the change in season and before he even knew it, Halloween was just around the corner. For the past few weeks the leaves of the trees were turning different shades of orange, yellow, and brown. The café had added different types of pumpkin flavored items to its menu and had set up spooky decorations for the occasion.

"I love Halloween it's absolutely amazing." Eirys answers when he had asked her about the holiday. "I'm thinking about going as a fairy this year."

"What?" Being a social hermit, Mr. Gold didn't involve himself with the rest of the town if he could help it.

"The Pumpkin Festival, you know for being the owner of Storybrooke you sure are clueless about the happenings around here." Eirys sighs giving him a mock pitying look. "The mayor said that trick-or-treating was getting too dangerous and kids were missing curfew so she created a festival so the entire town can celebrate together."

The idea did sound familiar. "I'm sure its enjoyable." The way he said it was like someone had a gun to his head and was forcing him to read a script.

Eirys laughs at his obvious discomfort about the holiday. "You have to get out more. You're going to this festival." He glances at her with a look of pure horror which only made her laugh harder. "Don't worry, you can just go as yourself, you're scary enough like that anyways."

"I'm not going." He replies wishing for the entire month to be over. He takes another sip of his tea, the apricot flavor reminding him of the warmth of spring and the liveliness of summer.

The moment he puts the teacup down and glances up at Eirys he almost regrets his last statement. Eirys had pulled her thin lips into a small pout and her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Please go, for me."

If Mr. Gold had a weakness, this would be it. "Fine" he says almost growling it. She, in return, claps happily and pours him another cup of tea.

"It's going to be so much fun." She says going off about the festival. "It'll be like a Halloween party for the whole town. Don't worry, you'll find some way to enjoy yourself."

Even with her assurances, Mr. Gold still had doubts about the festival. And, as always, they were bound to come true.

"_You promised, Bae." Ivy whines childishly. She watches her new secret friend with growing frustration as he swallows slices of pumpkin pie in one bite. "You can't break your promise."_

"_Sorry, dearie." He replies in a singsong voice, reaching for another slice of the still warm pie. "I promised I would tell you if you brought me pumpkin pie, not when. You should have checked before you agreed." _

_Ivy pouts and snatches the rest of the pie away from his prying hands. "No more pie until you tell me." _

_He shrugs. "Very well then, let's see. Outside, during the autumn season all the trees turn different colors, orange like this pumpkin pie." He quickly plucks a small piece of pie from the tray. "Yellow like the sun, or sometimes they turn brown like the dirt."_

_Ivy shifts closer to him. His voice had a calming effect. It was nice to listen to when he wasn't teasing her about her cooking. "Aw, are they in pain?"_

"_The trees?" Bae asks raising a brow, the flow of his story getting interrupted. _

_Ivy nods rigorously. "Every year, I get a feeling like something out there is going away. The voices of the trees start to get softer and soon they disappear altogether. But then I start hearing them again."_

"_I suppose you're feeling autumn. The leaves fall of the trees and the grass turns brown too. Then it becomes winter. White, cold, powdery stuff covers the ground, plants don't grow during the winter." Bae suddenly stops when he sees tears dripping out of Ivy's blue eyes. "What's wrong?" The act of her crying over something so small was actually quite frightening. _

"_That's so sad." Ivy says through hiccups. She wipes at her tears with sleeves, even the Fairy Grounds were slightly affected by the change of the seasons. The air got colder and the days were shorter while the nights got longer. "But they come back, don't they?"_

"_Of course." Bae says, his nerves calming as her tears stopped. He hadn't realized how tense his muscles had become when she started crying. "After a while, all the white powder turns to water and the plants start to grow again. The end."_

Blue sparkles, thigh high blue and black stripped stockings, a shimmering blue and black dress, and a magical blue wand that left blue glitter everywhere made her appear to be no older than a college student. She, of course, is giggling like a teenager waiting for Mr. Gold to show up at the festival. In her pumpkin basket are little chewable gummies in the shape of pumpkins and ghosts. "I thought you were never going to show up." She passes a gummie candy to the sullen looking Mr. Gold. "Come on, it's going to be so much fun." She grabs his wrist and pulls him into the festival, passing adults and children all dressed up in their costumes and face paint.

Despite being in the company of Mr. Gold, children flocked to her, holding up their pumpkin baskets in hopes of getting a gummie. And Eirys would always smile and pass out her candy. "Those children are probably going to get a mouth full of cavities." Mr. Gold mumbles, putting a damper on the joyous mood.

"Kids should have a day to just be kids." Eirys replies scolding him. She rushes off to a nearby vender to buys a tartly candied apple. "I can't remember the last time I've had one of these." She holds the apple out for Mr. Gold to take a bite. "Try it, it's good."

Mr. Gold takes a tentative bite of the apple. For a moment, his face is completely blank, and then his face puckers up at the sour taste of the syrup. "I take it that you like this stuff." He gestures towards the apple as if were the embodiment of evil.

Eiryus laughs taking a large bite out of the other side of the apple. "Of course, I've always liked sour stuff. I always have a few candies stashed somewhere in case I need a good sugar rush."

"I suppose that didn't bode to well with your parents." Mr. Gold says watching a gaggle of children run past them chasing a festival volunteer dressed as a ghost. The parents keep an eye on their children from a small set of benches by the carousel.

"I really can't remember." Eirys says, her eyebrow coming together in confusion at the missing memory. "It must have happened to long ago that I can't remember anymore."

"The mind is tricky like that, you better watch out." Mr. Gold says leading them towards the carousel. He sighs contently, easing down onto an empty bench. "What is there left to do?"

To be exact, the two of them were too old to take part in the children's entertainment like puppet shows and the hay maze. The vender food was mostly sweet sugary goodness, chocolate, or sour items. "We could ride this." Eirys suggestions pointing to the carousel they were conveniently sitting next to. "You can't honestly say no to the carousel."

Mr. Gold just shrugs. Many of the festival goers were starting to head home. It was way past any child's bed time and the teenagers were probably at a friend's house keeping up with the wild festivities. "Why not?"

Eirys chose to go on a white horse studded with fake jewels and painted flowers. She let her short legs dangle over one side, turning her head to wave at Mr. Gold, who sat in a matching horse but with more knightly decorations. "Come on, you could at least pretend to be having fun." She tells him, holding the bar with one hand and trying to get a picture of him smiling with the other.

Mr. Gold, of course, keeps a straight face, which clashes brightly with the bright lights and carousel horse he was riding. This doesn't keep Eirys from taking embarrassing pictures of him, much to his embarrassment. "You better not show them to anyone."

"Don't worry about it." Eirys assure him, flipping through her pictures as they walk home. "I'll just pull them out on very important occasions."

Mr. Gold rubs his temples in agony. "You're blackmailing me?"

"Of course not," she replies instantly. "Think of it as future motivation." They stop at her flower shop. "Thanks for walking me home." She slips inside, waving once more before turning off the lights and officially ending their little Halloween date.

"I was thinking about making a pie of some sort." Eirys says sipping her tea. Today's tea is just plain black tea. This particular brand brewed a strong aromatic tea that lingered in the air as a natural air freshener. "Any preferences?"

With Halloween over, Eirys was up in planning for the next major holiday, Thanksgiving. "I prefer blueberry." Mr. Gold replies taking a sip of the tea, he wasn't too keen on the strong flavor of the tea. "I could bring something if you want."

"Perhaps another side dish?" Eirys says jotting it down in her planning notebook, her handwriting involved many loops and curves. It was much more elegant compared to his hurried scrawl.

Mr. Gold is not the type of person he plans ahead for dinner parties, not that he had much experience with dinner parties in the first place. He preferred making deals in which he could set a date in which the repayment had to be made by and let fate do the rest. "I could bring a potato salad."

"That's perfect." She writes it down amongst the items that she didn't need to worry about for her dinner party. "If you don't want tea during the dinner I could find some grape juice or something."

"I have some sparkling juice in the fridge." Mr. Gold lies easily. He felt just the slightest bit guilty about bringing so little. Finding some sparkling juice wouldn't much that much of a dent in his wallet.

Eirys nods and crosses the item off her list. "This is going to be exciting. I can't believe we didn't do this before. I wonder why that is."

"_Bae would you like to come to my home for dinner?" Ivy asks shyly, her pale white cheeks dotting with a red blush. "For the holiday that is."_

_Bae raises a questioning eyebrow, his curiosity spiking for two reasons. "Now, why would I want to do that?"_

_Ivy shrugs. "It seems sad that you're going to be all alone on a holiday. No one should be alone on a holiday, since everyone's going to celebrate their family."_

"_Well," he says poking her on the tip of her nose. "Shouldn't you be celebrating with your family?" _

_She looks away from him. Her blue eyes casting a look of doubt and sadness towards the bubbling river, even the earth seemed a tad bit sadder. "My parents aren't here. They're outside, helping in the Ogre Wars." _

"_Do you want them here?" He almost slapped himself after hearing the words spill out of his mouth. What could he possibly want from this fairy girl? If he took something, he'd hurt her, then he'd have to leave, and then he'd be poor, hated, and starving again. _

_Ivy is totally unaware of the mental argument Bae was having. "Of course I want them here, but they have an important job to do so they can't be here." She sighs and Bae realizes that this wasn't the first time she would have to spend this holiday, that celebrated family, all by herself. _

"_I guess I'll go." Bae says leaning up against the tree. A bump in the tree trunk pokes painfully into his back. He ignores the pain to keep up his nonchalant persona. "If you still want me to come that is."_

"_Of course I want you to come." She says her eyes connecting with his. They were says 'thank you' to him. _

Thanksgiving is sickening, for him at least. The days leading up to the forsaken holiday were a frenzy that he wished to forget. Frustrated mothers and wives rushing into the pawn shop expecting to find last minute pieces of silverware to replace the broken china that their husbands broke the last Thanksgiving or for an in-style table clothe to match the interior of their dinning room.

"You look terrible. Did something happen, Mr. Gold?" Eirys asks noting the extremely tired look on his face. He felt like he had aged twenty years in the past week or so. "Here, you sit down and I'll make so Apple Ginger tea."

He nods his thanks and settles into his chair. The smell of ginger and tart apples soon fills the air. "This is very fitting for the season." He notes with a certain tone of distaste. He sips the tea; the tartness of the apple sends a delicious tingle down his spine. It is a nice change from the bitter and sweet teas they had the other mornings.

"You're still coming over, right?" She sips her tea, watching him for any signs of a lie. Not that he could openly lie to her face.

He smiles crookedly. "Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world." He takes another sip. At that moment the bell above the door twinkles, a customer enters the supposedly 'closed' shop.

"I better go get that." She says getting up and swiftly walking to the shop. "Welcome to the Green Fairy, how may I be of service to you?"

Mr. Gold was always one for some good gossip, it always pleased him to see other people squirm under his knowledge, and they never realize that he was just a good listener. "I would like a bouquet of these orange ones and any other flowers that scream Thanksgiving." Another frantic mother and she is looking for a present for a pre-thanksgiving party.

"Perhaps you would like some sunflowers." Eirys suggests calmly. "I have some autumn wrappings and tissue paper. It'll look simpler and connected to the holiday."

The woman agrees readily, quickly pays for the flowers, and then rushes out as quickly as she came in. "Don't you know that it's a bad habit to eavesdrop on people." Eirys scolds coming up behind him. "I know you were listening in, trying to catch some more gossip."

Mr. Gold sighs, watching the happy families drive to their favorite restaurants or scurry to different stores to find the missing cranberry sauce they needed in order to complete their family dinner. But for the first time Mr. Gold closed his shop before the sun dipped below the horizon and made the short walk next door.

The bell above the store door twinkles as he enters the flower shop still lit and inviting for any straggling mothers wanting an extra bouquet of flowers for her parlor or a nervous boyfriend trying to make a good impression on his girlfriend's parents. The smell of herbs and spices wafts from the open door connecting the store to Eirys's home.

"Mr. Gold, welcome!" The chirpy voice breaks him out of his thoughts. Her dark hair was pulled into a long braid and her blue eyes offset the flowery yellow apron she wore over her clothes. "Come in, come in." She ushers him towards her home, taking the items he brought from his arm. "I don't have much; the morning was filled with last minute shoppers."

They walk through the back room and into her actual home. Despite the small size of her flower shop, her home was quite large. It had one not-terribly-large room with a small fire place to one side and a small kitchenette in the corner. There's a door that leads to another room, her bedroom and a bathroom. Her home was textured with brightly embroidered rugs, tapestries on the walls, a collection of knickknacks and other oddities on every available surface, and many different types of potted plants in equally striking containers.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Mr. Gold asks, taking in the room, a small dinning table nestles itself in the corner next to the kitchen. She had already laid out all the utensils and plates for the two of them.

"That would be wonderful." She hurries over to the oven, her long pale green skirt whipping between her legs. "I assumed you wouldn't like tofu turkey, so I made Shepard's pie instead. I had to go to three markets to find some vegan ground beef." She opens the oven door, letting the aroma of the pie settle into the room. "Could you turn the cranberry sauce down to a simmer?" She picks out a bowl for the potato salad, leaving the sparkling grape juice unopened on the dining table.

Mr. Gold quickly turns the fire on the stove down just before the cranberry sauce went of the top of the pot. "You have quite a few cranberries in here." To be exact, it seemed as if she had the entire town's supply of cranberries in that one pot.

"Nothing better than homegrown cranberries for Thanksgiving," she replies scooping her vegan stuffing into another artfully decorated bowl. "I got my hands on some nice sweet potatoes and decided to make sweet potato fries, have you ever had sweet potato fries?"

Mr. Gold glances back at the bubbling cranberries. "I did, once."

"_Bae, I can't believe it." Ivy says in total shock. Her blue eyes widen with disbelief at the impish man sitting next to her who was cheerfully munching on a blueberry scone. "You've never had sweet potato crisps?" _

_He sneaks another scone and takes a hearty bite before answering. "Tell me, dearie, what's so good about these crisps of yours?" He finishes the scone in another two bites and takes a delicate sip of his tea. "Is blueberry a theme today?"_

_Ivy flushes a bright unhappy red color. The two of them return to their quiet eating, it had become a sort of ritual. At first she would bring snacks and other goodies to help him recuperate, but it soon turned into a time shared between friends. It took a lot of prying, but Bae finally started to reveal little pieces about his life. _

"_I'll make you some when you come over for the holiday." Ivy announces abruptly. She secretly smiles gleefully at the sound of Bae choking on his tea. She pats his back to help get the liquid out of his throat. "You're still coming right?" She wraps the rest of the scones for Bae to munch on before their next meeting._

"_Don't worry your pretty little head." He replies shooing her away, she was needed in the Fairy Grounds which had become a safe heaven for fairies who have been injured during the Ogre Wars. It wouldn't be long before they started to send fairies out into the field in order to help fairies who were helping the humans. "I'll be there."_

He stared at the orange strips of sweet potato, spiced and sweetened before being baked to a wonderful crisp. Each fry was dunked in a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar with a sprinkle of rosemary and a dash of salt. Each bite was an explosion of flavor, a flavor that he could vividly remember.

_Great expectations, if her eyes could speak, they would be saying "I have great expectations from you."_

_ He placed a sweet potato crisp tentatively in his mouth, being a non-fairy meant that he couldn't just walk into the market and buy food. He also couldn't leave because the humans were hunting his head at the moment; therefore, his only source of food came from Ivy's constant visits bearing snacks. "What do you think?" She demands after hearing the first crunch of the crisp break under the pressure of his teeth. "Do you like them?"_

_ Bae ponders the unique burst of flavor, it was surprisingly very tasty. But of course he would never openly admit that he was addicted to the food she brought him. So he shrugs his thin shoulders, slowly chewing the crisp. "It's interesting. You did a good job, dearie." He takes another one out of the basket and pops it into his mouth. _

_ "Well, I guess I have to keep practicing until you say that you like them." Ivy says biting into her own crisp. "I wonder what autumn is like, outside of the Grounds."_

_ Bae shrugs knowing that this little thought would lead to many other questions in which she would nag him for information. And when he wouldn't answer her questions, she relied on her baking skills to bribe him to tell her. "Autumn is a very beautiful. Not that you would want to know about it when you have all of this." He waves his hand towards the window of her little one roomed cottage. _

_ "Oh Bae, please tell me about it." She says easily falling into his trap. "I want to know about this autumn thing that humans experience."_

_ Bae shrugs pretending to not be interested. "I suppose I could tell you. But it's going to cost you." Even in this nice quaint little place he couldn't resist making deals. Of course, none of them were harmful like some of his past deals. "Perhaps another batch of these crisps in the near future?"_

_ Ivy grins. "Only if you admit you like them." She leans back in her wooden chair, the back creaks against her weight. She had a determined expression on her face, one that he only saw when she did her magic. _

_ Bae sighs dramatically. He was starting to rub off on her, making her more cunning and sly. Making him fall into such a trap, it was incredible; he had never been caught before even if it was one this small. "Very well, I like these sweet potato crisps." He takes another crisp. "Not that I have any other to compare them to." This was going to get interesting. There was no way he was going to let this fairy goodie goodie out wit him. _


	3. Playing with Mr Gold

The first snow of the year came only a week after Thanksgiving. Eirys stares at the white puffs of crystallized water with a sense of awe. She pulls the wrapped potted plant in her arms closer to her body before quickly locking her store and walking briskly towards the hospital. In her haste she didn't notice the person walking in the opposite direction before the collision, causing the other person to topple over. "Ah, Ms. Mayor, I didn't see you." Eirys silently chastises her clumsiness, reaching down to give the mayor a hand. By some miracle, the plant was still very much intact.

"Never mind that," she replies fixing her little black dress and her matching pea coat. "You better not let that person waiting." She nods towards the plant in Eirys's arms.

Eirys nods, gladly taking the chance to get out of the conversation. "Have a nice day, Ms. Mayor." For most, Mr. Gold was the most frightening person in Storybrooke, for Eirys, that person was the mayor. Regina Mills, had been the mayor of Storybrooke for as long as Eirys could remember which didn't ease the discomfort she had whenever they talked.

Eirys shivers wrapping her brown jacket closer and continues on her way. Every time the two crossed paths she felt like she had to wash off all presence of the other woman. Eirys walks towards the room the flowers were requested in. It was a mysterious order. The person requested for potted flowers to be sent to a patient and that money would be wired to her bank account. No further contact with the employer.

"Eirys, what are you doing here?" Eirys finds her shoulders relaxing at the sound of a female voice. She had been dreading the delivery due to her previous relationship with one of the staff members. Thankfully, it wasn't the said staff member who had called her out.

Eirys turns to face the short haired brunette known as Mary Margaret. "Just delivery some flowers. I haven't seen you at the store for a while now, I was getting worried."

Mary Margaret shrugs an easy smile gracing her face. "Just some volunteer work, the kids are getting antsy for winter break and everything. Speaking of which, are you planning anything?"

"Not particularly." Eirys says sliding open the glass door to the room. It was the John Doe coma patient. "I have to do my taxes and this is a slow season for me so I can't afford to do anything big." She couldn't help but whisper in the room. There was something on the internet saying that coma patients could hear things.

Mary Margaret fixes up the pillow under the John Doe's head. "Why don't you come over to the school? The kids love you and there will probably be enough snow on the ground to make snowmen and snow angels."

"Sure, I'd love to." They walk out of the room, silently sliding the door shut behind them. The get together with Mary Margaret's students is the perfect excuse for an adult to play around in the snow. For some reason the thought of playing in the snow reminded her of a certain pawn shop owner. "I wonder if Mr. Gold's ever played in the snow."

Mary Margaret lets out a very unlady-like snort, unconsciously glancing behind her to make sure Mr. Gold wasn't going to pop out of nowhere. "How can you say things like that so easily? He has ears everywhere." She nervously laughs at the mental image of Mr. Gold actually playing in the snow.

"Don't worry about him." Eirys says not feeling the nervousness that had overtaken her friend. "He's actually not as bad as everyone thinks he is." It was always hard to explain her friendship to others, they all had a built in idea of who he was without actually getting to know him. It placed her in a very troubling position.

Mary Margaret seems to take her word for it. "Well, if you want, I suppose the children won't mind if he comes along. I'm sure they'll just ignore him and just play in the snow."

Eirys and Mary Margaret trade farewells and head towards their respected homes. The snow hadn't let up creating small mounds of it along the wet sidewalk. The air was showing signs of a very promising winter filled with snow, hot chocolate, and many kids catching the flu.

"I refuse." Mr. Gold says stubbornly in response to her question. He takes a sip of his tea, the mint undertones reminding him of peppermint candy canes and other accessories that came with the winter season. "Why does Mary Margaret want me to be there?"

"Because it's going to be fun and you have to get out more." Eirys argues, trying to come up with a logic reason for him to get out of his home this season. In reality, Mr. Gold was a hermit most of the year, only coming out to collect his money and to attend town meetings. And he didn't even go to half of them, leaving her to relay any messages that need to be relayed. "Please, please, please go!"

Mr. Gold reaches for a gingerbread cookie, not looking up to meet her gaze because he knew what kind of face went with that kind of voice. "No." He says firmly taking a bite out of the cookie. "That is my final answer."

"But people are going to keep saying that you're a creepy old man who sits inside his house and watches people from his window." Eirys says letting a small tear out of her left eye.

"I don't really care what people say about me." He replies taking a sip of his tea, in all honesty, he had probably heard worse. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt."

Eirys stands up, slamming her hands against the table. Her precious tea set rattling dangerously. "I care what people say so you're going to go and spend a day in the snow with little children and you're going to have fun." She sits down angrily, snatching the rest of his uneaten cookie and grumbling incoherent things under her breath while she ate.

"_Bae why won't you come with me?" Ivy demands. Her blue eyes glaring down on him, he could almost feel the holes they were boring into his head. "Have you even stepped out of this clearing since you wandered in here?"_

_He shrugs his shoulders. "I will, eventually." He replies. He peeks at his trousers, they were starting to get holes again, and some of his patches had patches of their own. In any case, he had to find some new clothes. "Don't you have any friends to go with, what about that Blue Fairy you keep talking about?"_

"_Saphira's only going so she can shop at some human market." Ivy replies, she waves a hand over the ground. The tree trunk behind his head shifts and protrudes outward into his back. "I'm starting to loose my patience."_

_That was an understatement. Bae yelps as a tree branch whacks him on the head. Of course it doesn't hit him hard enough to break skin, only enough to give him a headache the next day along with a big purple and blue bruise. She was angry enough to use violence, which meant that she was beyond a loss of patience. "Don't you have some place you need to be?" He asks gritting his teeth in pain. _

_Ivy turns on her heels and stomps out of the clearing. The tree finally calms down enough to return to its original shape. The fairy children who had come of age were going to have their first chaperoned trip outside of the Grounds. Bae sighs, resting his head on the soft grass, watching the sun dip lower and lower. It was almost time for his nightly prowl. _

_He was naturally a very curious person; always wanting to know more, of course that meant snooping around the Fairy Grounds a few minutes after his blue-eyed friend had left. He'd choose a different exit, doubling back, taking turns until he reached the outskirts of the Grounds, then he'd choose a nice, tall, sturdy tree to climb and sit in. The first few nights he chose a bad tree, but his next tree had all the juicy secrets. _

_He didn't know too many people who needed to blackmail a fairy, but it could come in handy one day. So he diligently kept track of each scandalous piece of knowledge that passed his tree like the fact that the mayor really liked young blondes, and that the metal-works teacher's daughter who was engaged to the Master Fire's Fairy's son was cheating with some other fairy. He sighs as all the cheating and perverted fairies went in to do their affairs. "I suppose I could go." He mumbles under his breath, unable to focus due to the uncharacteristic outburst that afternoon. _

_The trip started early in the morning. Lucky for Bae, he had dozed off on his little nightly prowl. The excited chattering of the fairies had woken him up before someone noticed his presence. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Bae wonders to himself, watching the group starts out East. _

"_What do you want to do first?" Saphira asks rhetorically, she had an extra bounce in her step as they walked out of the Fairy Grounds. "We could buy pies from the bakery, or explore a castle, or pet a cow!"_

_ Bae sometimes wondered if this blonde girl just talked to hear her own voice since she could surely carry on a whole conversation just by herself. "Saphira, we have to follow the group." The cautious one of the pair of friends explains patiently. The obvious wave of excitement has yet to hit her exhausted appearance. _

_ "Ivy you need to lighten up sometimes." Saphira says waving her hand as if to disband the negativity that was pouring out of Ivy's pores. "It must be because you're cooped up by yourself all the time."_

_ Ivy doesn't have a chance to reply since the group came across the nearest village. All the fairies seem to rush off towards it like a stampede of pigs running towards their food. "Well, your friend seems quite happy today." Bae says in his cheerful mocking voice. _

_ "Bae, you came!" Ivy exclaims, a new light emerging in her eyes. "Why are you here anyways? I thought you didn't want to come." And within a split second her happy mood died down into a slightly angry one. _

"_Well, aren't you coming here?" He asks back glancing around to make sure his cover hadn't been blow by some insignificant human. "Not that I really want to be here right now. Could we?" He practically pushes her towards a more secluded part of the road, following a bit behind the rest of the fairies. "Now, what were planning to do today?"_

Eirys shifts the brown cardboard box in her hands. Her short stature almost tips over as she reaches for the door handle to the school. It is the day before the winter holiday break, and as such, she decided to bring little festive plants for each of Mary Margaret's students. "Need some help?" A long lanky arm in a black wool jacket reaches past her and turns the door handle.

"And here I thought that I was going to freeze out here." She rolls her blue eyes, Mr. Gold holding the door open for her to go in first. "I thought you 'refused to come'." She stomps her boots on the mat to shake off any excess snow.

He shrugs, closing the door behind him, taking off his black wool gloves. "I was in the neighborhood when I saw that you could use some help." He carefully steps around the wet footprints made by melting snow.

Eirys carefully makes her way to Mary Margaret's classroom, letting Mr. Gold open the door for her. "Eirys, thank goodness you're here." Mary Margaret almost tackles the girl when she enters. The sound of out of control children burst in the background. "They're just so excited to go out and play."

"Hi, kids!" Eirys says as the most curious children come up to greet her. Everyone had their boots and snow-pants already at their tables. "So, who wants to go outside and make snowmen?"

"I do!" The kids scream, scrabbling around to get their coats and mittens on, dropping the toys they were currently playing with. Some of them, the ones who were already partly dressed to go outside, waddled over to peek inside the box. "What are those?"

Eirys carefully takes one of the green potted plants out. "These are little Christmas trees. I have enough for everyone to have one. We can decorate the pots when we get back inside."

The kids were practically turning red from all the excitement and they weren't even out the door yet. Some how, Mary Margaret is able to get all the kids out into the snow without any instances of voices being raised and small childish quarrels occurring. The kids practically throw themselves into the snow.

"Well, this was unexpected." Mr. Gold notes watching the kids immediately start making snow balls and having a massive snow ball fight. There was no natural teams being formed, rather, it was every child from themselves in an all out snowball fight to the death. "Sure hope they don't get sick, parents love to bring their sick kids everywh-"

And in that exact moment, a stray snowball, which might have been intentional, went flying through the fray and hits Mr. Gold straight in the face. A suspenseful silence falls over the three adults as the children continue to scream and run around in the snow. "Mr. Gold, are you ok?"

"I'm just fine." He replies wiping the melting snow off his face with his gray scarf, "just peachy." He doesn't dare look at Eirys because she would be doubling over any minute ready to burst with laughter. And as he had suspected, she did. Her laughter echoing over the rest of the children's to the point where she had collapsed on the cement ground and her cheeks were bright red from the lack of oxygen. "I'm glad you find this so amusing."

Mary Margaret does a much better job at covering her giggles by pretending to help Eirys back up. But Mr. Gold had a sneaking suspicion that she was also just collapsing in laughter. "That was the funniest thing I've ever seen." Eirys says gasping for a breath. "You should have seen the look on your face."

"It was absolutely not funny." He replies slightly frustrated. He was one who did not liked to be laughed at. He would sometimes do the laughing at but **never**, was he the one to be laughed at. "My mouth was open and everything." He nudges some of the appalling snow away with the toe of his shoe.

His last statement only made the blue eyed woman die in laughter again. Her olive green jacket shakes as her sparkly bubblegum pink mittens try to stifle her laughs. He rolls his eyes at the childishness of his only friend, and secretly bends down and picks up a wad of snow. Now, he was no snow expert by any stretch of the imagination, but this snow was perfect for making into a snowball to toss at someone's face. Or in his case, shove down a certain person's jacket.

Eirys lets out a blood curdling shriek as the cold powder-like water touches her warm-blooded skin. She jumps a little trying to get all the snow down her shirt, shivering as the snow melts into icy water. "I am so going to get you for that." Her blue eyes narrowing competitively, while his brown eyes stare back at her in boredom. She packs some snow by her feet to form a small snowball and shoves it down his jacket, giggling as she does so and running off to get more snow in the playground.

By then, the children had created teams and started to build elaborate forts out of snow with general plans for attack and defense. It was quite impressive for their youthful minds. Of course, being the childish adult that she is, Eirys manages to drag Mr. Gold into such a game, both of them playing on opposing sides.

The kids on Mr. Gold's side didn't seem to mind his presence. If anything, they enjoyed it as he gave them hints as to their opponents' weak points. Whereas Eirys managed to convince the kids to keep throw snowballs at the poor pawn shop owner's face, turning it from a nice tan color to a brilliant red tomato color in a matter of minutes.

"I never thought you could get him to do anything remotely fun." Mary Margaret says after the snowball fight died out. The kids moving onto playing in the forts and making snow men with oddly shaped bodies. The three of them were sitting on a bench near the entrance to the school. Mr. Gold and Eirys were slightly shivering due to the amount of snow they were each hit with. "Though, I can't say I want to be in your shoes."

Both Eirys and Mr. Gold had red faces all the way up to the tips of their frozen ears. Not only that, but their respected jackets were soaked being created for warmth rather than repelling water like most children wear. Adding on the fact that neither of them were wearing appropriate pants for kneeling in the snow and taking shots of snowballs to the legs. At least Eirys was slightly better off in her knee high black and pink poka dotted snow boots. "When does the school day end again?" Eirys asks, lifting her jacket away from her wrist to look at her watch.

"Not early enough." Mr. Gold replies hunching over and shivering in the cold. "If I come down with something, I'm going to blame you." He says crossing his arms to try and retain as much body heat possible. "This is why I don't have fun."

"_Ivy, Ivy, come taste this. It's so good!" Saphira says shoving a plate of some flavor of pie into the timid girl's hands. By the looks of it, it was blackberry pie. "By the way, who were you talking to? I swear I heard you talking to someone." She glances around them. "I guess it was just my imagination." She shrugs the suspicious feeling off and continues on her tasting spree. _

"_That blondie sure knows how to get around." Bae says coming out of his hiding spot between two cabins. "She is one fierce chatterbox. I wouldn't want to meet her in a dark hallway, or a light one." The chaperones were letting them explore on their own for a few hours, as long as they remained in pairs. _

_Ivy rolls her blue eyes, taking a tentative bite of the pie. It was fresh off the fire; the blackberry syrup was tart and warm. "She's not all that bad." Ivy takes another bite, letting the pie warm her chilled skin. _

_The Fairy Grounds were always warm and sunny due to the concentrated magic properties of all the fairies. However, outside the Grounds, the world was slowly growing colder. Bae didn't seem to notice the chilly breeze that blew past them, and if he did, he didn't show it. In fact, the only thing he really did was eat food, complain, whine, and eat more food. "Anyways, dearie, I have places to be and people to see." He says as something catches his eye. _

_And before Ivy could wonder about the meaning of his words, he skitters off towards some unknown destination. "Ivy, come on, we found a place to buy jewelry." Saphira says, her blue cloak flying behind her as she grabs Ivy's arm and drags her towards a certain vender. "Aren't these pretty?" She holds up a small pendent made with a shimmery pink stone. "Look, this one matches your eyes." She picks up a blue necklace in the shape of a flower._

"_You have a good eye." The rich, smooth, mature voice says behind them. Saphira whips around to face the speaker. Ivy, however, almost jumps out of her skin and calls the roots of the trees to attack the person. "I haven't seen so many fairies in one place in a long time. It must be my lucky day."_

_Ivy turns, her eyes widening at the sight of the lady. She had an air of royalty around her, dark brown hair, bottomless brown eyes, and dressed in black. There was a striking familiarity of the woman. "You're the widowed Queen, aren't you?" Ivy asks recognizing the woman through a description her parents wrote about in a letter. _

_The woman turns her gaze towards the Flower Fairy. "That I am, now, you must by an earth fairy. And you." She points a dainty finger at Saphira. "You must be a wish giving fairy, am I wrong?" _

_Saphira shakes her head, her eyes watching every move the queen makes. "What do you want from us?" There was a certain evil malice that oozed out of the queen. Even Saphira's natural friendliness was gone. _

"_I was just hoping for a little trade." The queen replies picking up the two necklaces. "I'll buy these for you, and we can talk business later." The merchant quickly packs up the necklaces, and placing the coins in his purse. "Now, will you grant me my wish?"_

_Saphira stares at the queen with cold eyes. "What do you wish for, my queen?"_

"_It's quite simple actually." The queen replies, walking us towards her carriage. It is also black with silvery white details, black drivers, and black horses to pull the carriage. "I want you to tell me where this girl is hiding." The queen takes a folded paper out of her pocket. The paper turns out to be a wanted poster of a girl, no older than the fairies themselves. "Can you?"_

_Saphira takes the pictures, her eyes glowing blue. "She's in the forest near the castle. She is waiting, hunting for something." Saphira shakes her head. Wish magic is very tricky; sometimes they could do exactly what a person wishes them to do, other times it doesn't bode as well. _

_The queen seems to accept the answer, patting Saphira on the head. "Thank you, you have done very well." She opens the carriage door and steps inside. "I'm sure you'll both become very useful fairies in the future."_

_Saphira stares at the path the carriage takes until it disappears from sight. "I hope I never have to grant her another wish." She shivers, gripping her necklace tightly in her fist. "She is really creepy; did you feel that aura she had?"_

_Ivy nods, "She makes me want to take a bath and scrub my skin raw." Ivy glances at the necklace the queen bought her. She tucks it into her pocket not really wanting the necklace anymore. "Do you want to go shopping?"_

"_Of course." Saphira replies, skipping towards another vender, tucking the bad experience in the back of her mind. Ivy follows slowly behind her, taking her time to fully digest all the food Saphira made her eat in the past hour or so. _

"_Well, wasn't that an interesting experience." Bae says cheerfully peeling himself away from a tree and falling in step with the green thumbed fairy. "I don't suppose you have anymore pie with you?"_

_Ivy shakes her head, taking a look at her friend. He seemed to be the same, only he had a certain amount of scratches and scraps that were definitely not there before they separated, "What happened to you?"_

_He just shrugs off her question, wincing when he lifts his left shoulder. "Well, let's just say that I met someone and then some things happened and let's just leave it at that." On the last three words he taps her teasingly on the nose. _

"_Right and I bet I'm going to have to bake you more food now that you're 'hurt'" She guesses working her way through his thoughts. "If you find something you like why don't you just buy it?" She digs through her coin purse and hands him a few coins. "And you better give those trousers back to the poor sap you stole them from."_

_Bae readily accepts the coins. "Nothing gets past you, dearie." And with that he disappears, probably to steal more clothing. He wasn't, exactly, the type of person to just give clothes back after he's tried them one and liked them. He probably wasn't even going to spend that money on food, rather he'll probably do something stupid and Ivy would rather not know what he does in his free time. _

"At least they're kind of quiet." Eirys says trying to find a good point a view of the whole situation. After coming inside from their extravagant snow play, the kids decided to paint and decorate their potted plants. Said kids, now inside and drinking hot chocolate while doing crafts, were almost bouncing off the walls. "What did you put in there?"

"I don't even know anymore." Mary Margaret replies, rubbing her temples. An empty pot of hot chocolate sits in the coffee maker with packets of instant hot chocolate next to it. "I'm going to pretend like we ran out of hot cocoa." She quickly swipes the box of the instant drink mix and stashes it high on a closet shelf.

"I think it's time to switch to DC" Eirys says suddenly feeling very old. "I mean, where do these kids get their energy?"

"DC?" Mary Margaret asks, her brain slowly beginning to shut down for a well deserved nap. She yawns glancing at the clock in the corner of the room. "At least they've stopped trying to kill each other by paint poisoning."

Eirys nods catching the yawning disease. "De-caff, I assure you that it'll be the best investment you'll ever make for these kids. No one needs an energized child in the house at two in the afternoon."

The end of the school did not come fast enough. The last of the children were happily picked up by their parents who were bracing themselves for two weeks of pure torture. "It's times like these where I'm glad I'm not married." Mary Margaret says heading towards her apartment. "I'll see you soon, Eirys!"

"They grow up so fast sometimes." Mr. Gold says absently. He limps slowly back to his shop. The amount of exercise he did earlier had taken its toll on his leg making a sharp pain go up his leg every time he put too much pressure on it. He winces as a particularly sharp pain explodes in his leg.

Eirys casts a worried glance at him. "Why don't you come over? I can fix you something for your leg." Mr. Gold nods, biting down on his lip as another surge of pain tingles up his leg.

By the time the two of them got to Eirys's store, Mr. Gold had bitten a nice sized hole in his lower lip where blood was quickly spilling out of. "I should have left you to freeze outside of that school." Mr. Gold gently touches the ice pack wrapped in a cloth towel to his wounded lip, not caring about the blood that would soon stain it.

"Hear, drink this." She hands him a mug of steamy light brown liquid that looked like watered down apply juice. Mr. Gold removes the towel to take a sip, unprepared for the bitter taste of pears to enter his mouth.

"What is this?" He demands, practically gagging on the mouthful, forcing it down his throat. "And why does it taste so bitter?" He presses the ice pack back onto his cracked lip as his excessive exclaims caused the split to open again.

Eirys glances at him coldly. "It's a steamed pear with ginseng root drink. I told you that it would help." She pulls the pear out of the pot it was boiling in and puts it on a plate. "You can eat the pear too if you really want to."

Mr. Gold shakes his head. "No thanks." He braces himself for another sip of the tea, and under Eirys's watchful eye, he drank the entire cup. "I am never playing in the snow ever again." And although he would never admit it, his leg did feel a little better.

Eirys walks him back to the closed shop, handing him a new free sample to take with him. "Have a safe drive!" She didn't shut her lights until she was sure that Mr. Gold made it to his car safely.


	4. Emma Swan and the Evil Queen

Before he knew it allergies had arrived and weeds were growing, in other words, spring was upon Storybrooke. The pollen from blooming flowers was brutal on his health causing him to sneeze excessively and his eyes water if he didn't take his medication. "You always seem so sickly these days." Eirys says sipping her tea, her face void of all emotions, even though Mr. Gold knew she meant nothing offense by her comment.

Mr. Gold takes a sip of his own tea, choosing to ignore her last comment. The sharpness of the lemon in the tea opens his nasal cavities allowing him to actually smell something for the first time since spring came. "Did you hear?"

Eirys raises an eyebrow. "Hear what?" She usually got plenty of gossip from her customers who came out to buy armloads of potted flowers for their front lawns and gardens.

"I heard that Henry has run off somewhere." Mr. Gold says taking his time drink his tea; it was one that Eirys always made him during the spring time. It was mainly boiling water, lemon wedges, about a quarter of a ginger, and hearty spoonfuls of honey. "Just took off by himself, Regina is heartbroken."

The way he said it made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. Eirys lets his words sink in, her eyes widening. "I don't recall anyone ever leaving Storybrooke before." She taps her chin, weaving through her memory to think of a moment. "How strange, what's Regina doing now?"

"Calling contacts, probably." Mr. Gold replies, slightly curious as to why she wasn't freaking out for the poor boy who was out in the world all by himself. "You don't seem too worried about him."

She shrugs picking up her reading, a fantasy romance novel. "Henry is a smart kid; he knows what he's doing. Besides, sooner or later he'll come back, probably." So she was worried about him, even though she wasn't showing it. Her blue eyes glances down the page of the book, however, Mr. Gold being the weird person he was actually timed the speed she read books. She was taking too long to read a page.

"I have the feeling he'll come back." Mr. Gold says settling back to relax before the whirlwind of a storm Henry was going to bring back. Of course, it would all depend on whether or not he was correct about what Henry was doing.

Eirys nods. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, though I'm worried about him being alone out there. It's supposed to get chilly in the evening." The grandfather clock in the corner chimes the hour; she slips a white carnation into the book. "You want me to pack you some for the rest of the day?"

"That would be nice." Mr. Gold replies, dreading walking outside where the pollen would clog his sinus and his eyes would start watering. He couldn't even go into the flower shop on days when flowers were being delivered because most of those flowers carried pollen on them which would be later removed by hand.

She hands him a green plastic water bottle. "It's a strong brew so you can keep adding hot water to it." She also hands him one of the white carnations sitting in a vase next to the cashier. "Non-potted plants aren't as popular during the spring and summer. Even the hospital wants potted plants these days."

_Bae rubs his nose again, glaring at the budding flowers around him. Apparently the Fairy Grounds did follow the seasons despite being sunny and warm all year-round. The current season was littered with budding flowers, warm yet cool weather, and lots of rain. "Bae, are you sure you're ok out here?" Ivy asks for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. It had rained the night before and she was worried about Bae catching a cold. _

_ Bae taps her gently on the forehead. "I'm fine." He replies resting his head against the tree trunk. A small cool hand presses against his burning forehead. Bae immediately tries to swat it away. _

_ "Bae, you are not ok, you have a fever." Ivy says stubbornly secretly scolding herself for not noticing the feverish flush on Bae's face and the fact that he had only eaten a few of the cookies she had brought him. _

_ He shakes his head. "It's these dreadful flowers, they give me a headache." He says dramatically throwing himself onto her lap. The coolness of her sundress felt nice under his burning cheek. _

_ She gently pets his unruly hair which had started to curl from the rain. "Poor Bae, don't worry, I'll get you something to make you feel better." She scoots out from under his head and rushes out of the clearing. _

_ He could smell her coming before he could hear her coming. It was the smell of lemons and honey. "What is that?" he demands staring at the goopy liquid that she had placed in front of him. The steam gave off a smell of medical herbs and vegetables. _

_ "It's soup." She replies as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She pours a different steaming liquid in a clay mug. "And here's some tea." Bae sets the soup aside in favor of the tea, the hot drink running through his chilled body. Ivy picks up the bowl and pushes a spoonful to his mouth. "It's good for you."_

_ Bae stares at her unbelieving but swallows the spoonful anyways. "So tell me, dearie, why do you care so much?" _

_ She stares back at him with her big innocent blue eyes. "Because I like you, silly." She gently flicks him in the forehead. "For someone so smart, you sure ask stupid questions."_

_ Bae returns to his tea, missing the small blush that had painted itself on Ivy's pale cheeks. She pushes the bowl of soup into his hands; it had cooled to a lukewarm temperature causing it to have an even more goopy texture. "You're not honestly going to make a sick man drink this are you?"_

_ Ivy gives him a look that told him that he should know better and just kept his mouth shut. "I'll force it down your throat if I have to." She had a very forceful personality when such an attitude was needed. Bae had a theory that she created such a personality as a way to cope with her bossy friend Saphira. _

_ Bae surrenders and raises the bowl to his mouth. He could feel the thick liquid flow slowly down his throat as if it was doing everything in its power to prolong the experience. "I am not going to drink this if it rains again." The soup, even if it was disgusting to drink, had made the fogginess in his head disappear. _

_ "You can always stay at my cottage." Ivy didn't seem to register the meaning of her words, they just flew out of her mouth. Bae wipes his head towards her, his face covered in shock. "I mean, if you really want to." Ivy could feel the heat of a blush rising up her neck and into her cheeks. _

_ "Perhaps." He replies turning back to his half empty mug. The clouds above them were starting to clump together into a dark gray storm cloud. "It seems like it's going to rain tonight." _

"I heard that Archie saw Henry with his real mother last night." Eirys says trying to pry some gossip from her tight-lipped friend. He, apparently, didn't have a care in the world about this newcomer and was contempt with eating his toast covered with a thick layer of blackberry jam. She places a nice clear glass tea cup in front of him. "Here, lemon, ginger, and honey."

"Right, thank you very much." He nods towards her cup with a much darker liquid that wafted a scent of berries. "And what are you having?"

Eirys takes a small sip; the mixture of tastes had been blended perfectly. "Ceylon black tea infused with blackberry flavor and leaves. It's quite good if you want some." She carefully spreads some jam on a piece of toast, waiting for Mr. Gold to finish chewing his own slice before going into her questions again. "Do you think we could go and visit her?"

At that very moment, Mr. Gold was unfortunately in the middle of taking a sip of his hot drink and the suddenness of the question had caused him to choke and cough up a storm. "Now why would you want to go do that?" He asks struggling to catch his breath.

"I just do." Eirys replies, pouring more of his special mixture for him to clear his throat. "Besides, you have money to collect, therefore, we could just happen to run into her."

Mr. Gold smirks slightly. "So, you want to stalk her?"

"Oh no I wouldn't call it stalking." She replies simply, looking horrified as if he suggested they kill and skin children to make the wallpaper of his store. "It's more like curiously following."

A stalker, he was friends with a stalker who was deep in denial. "Very well then, we leave whenever you're ready. I'm sure the townsfolk will be delighted." She had taken the trouble in asking him to collect money later in the day since the residence didn't like waking up early nor did they like the fact that they could have paid their entire due if he had come later in the day.

Eirys claps. "I'll make sandwiches and we can have lunch with Mary Margaret by the school. Oh, and I can see how the patients are doing at the hospital." Somehow, the simple collecting day had turned into a full holiday in which Eirys would visit all her local friends and catch up on the latest happenings.

And for some reason Mr. Gold found himself hating the entire day. Most people flocked to her glowing personality which was dulled by his rather somber outlook on life. "I don't understand what's so amusing about all of this frolicking." The word sounded off when he spoke, the only time he actually heard it in context was when she described openly happy couples who couldn't keep their hands off each other.

"You need to relax more, no wonder everyone's afraid of you." She passes out nicely made cheese and cucumber sandwiches while Mary Margaret went to make coffee in the principal's reception area. "And save some of those for Mary Margaret."

"Here you go." Mary Margaret came in, arms loaded with the three cups of coffee. "Careful, it's hot." She settles in the seat next to Eirys, seemingly trying to keep as far away from Mr. Gold as physically possible.

"So, Mary, what do you know about this business with the Mayor and this newcomer lady?" Eirys asks stirring three spoonfuls of sugar into her coffee and mixing it like a madwoman. "What's she like? Is she pretty? Does she look like Henry?"

Mary Margaret nods along, her mouth currently full of cucumber sandwich. "Well, she's blond, tall, very young, surprisingly so." She taps her figure against her chin, trying to recall some of the smaller details. "I'm sure you'll meet her before she leaves, Regina doesn't seem to like her very much."

Eirys sighs running a hand through her hair frustrated. "I want to see her, even if it's just a little peak I want to see her. Perhaps she'll decide to stay a while?"

"Always a possibility." Mr. Gold says wolfing down the last of the sandwiches and downing the rest of his black coffee in one gulp. For someone as skinny as he was, he sure had quite the appetite. "Shall we get going then?"

"Well, it was nice to see you again, come by to pick up the flowers for the hospital patients?" Eirys asks walking towards the door. The clock down the hall was nearing the end of the school lunch time.

Mary Margaret nods before Mr. Gold practically drags Eirys out of the school. "We're going to be lucky if we can finish this before nightfall." Mr. Gold grumbles under his breath. With all her talking, they were sorely behind schedule.

"Oh come on, Mr. Gold." She throws her arms up into the air, like a tree reaching towards the sunlight after a cold harsh winter, her picnic basket dangling around her wrist. "It's beautiful outside; you really should relax and enjoy yourself sometimes. You never know, it could all end in a flash."

Mr. Gold sighs trying very hard to put a damper on her joyous mood. At every stop they made, and it would always happen, some customer or worker or owner would suddenly remember that they have to tell Eirys something "important" and it would lead into a full blown conversation lasting over ten minutes. Then, Mr. Gold would tap his cane impatiently and literally push and drag her out of the store and towards their next destination. All the while, Eirys would be enjoying herself which was very suspicious. It almost seemed as if she planned to make him late.

"This is the last place." Mr. Gold pushes through the overgrown weeds and bushes around the old inn. "And look what we have here." Eirys almost pushes him over to get a better look through the window of the old inn. He stumbles, glaring lightly at the giddy short girl.

"Do you think that's her?" Eirys looks at the back of the blonde's head. "Do you think she'll be pretty?"

Mr. Gold gently pushes her towards the door. "Why don't you just go in and talk to her?" He was growing impatient and he was hungry again, all the walking and standing digested the food quickly leaving an empty stomach a quarter to three.

"I'll treat you to dinner sometime." Eirys says as if she knew what was going through his head at that exact moment. She opens the door, the rusty old bell chimes at their entrance but the blonde woman seems to be more engaged with the innkeeper.

"And you're name?" The short Granny asks.

"Emma, Emma Swan." The blonde replies.

"Emma," Mr. Gold says, making their presence known, even though Granny's face pales considerably at the sight of the pawn-shop owner. "What a pretty name."

"Thanks."

Granny quickly pulls out a roll of bills from a shelf under the reception desk. "Here's all of it."

Mr. Gold nods his thanks, taking the money. "Enjoy your stay, Emma."

"Ruby, I didn't see you back there." Eirys exclaims when a pale hand lands on her shoulder. "I got some nice flowers you can put up at the café if you want. Did the customers like the ones we got last month?"

Ruby nods. "Of course, I'll stop by and pick them up soon when I'm not busy." She was known to be a bit of a wild child with her short skirts, open tops, heavy make-up, and dyed hair.

"Right then, I do believe you owe me a dinner." Mr. Gold says ushering her out the door in a shooing fashion. He counters all her protests by opening the door and walking her out. "Now, I think I'd like some nice stew."

Eirys glares at him. "I just wanted to meet her, what's the harm in that?"

_ "So, let me get this straight." Bae says through a mouthful of pie. "You want me to help you meet the crazy queen who rules this land, is that right?"_

_ Ivy rolls her eyes, she just came from the exact same conversation with her only other friend. "I just want to see her again, there was something really off about her? Maybe, she's not as bad as she seems."_

_ "Or," Bae says waving his fork in her face. "She's exactly as she seems and she wants to use your amazing earthy powers to enact a certain revenge on a certain pretty girl."_

_ The beauty of his current situation was the fact that even if he were to say the truth, it was highly unlikely that she would believe him. Ivy glances at him over her slice of pie. "You say the most awfully outworldish things, Bae." _

_ He shrugs, whether she actually believed him or not was not his problem. He would have other customers who would pay dearly for the knowledge he possessed and the objects he could get. "Say, do you know of a thing called fairy dust?"_

_ "Of course, everyone knows of fairy dust." She replies, apparently, trusting him without a second thought. "When we transform magic dust falls from our wings, there are stories where humans catch fairies and harvest their fairy dust." She shivers at the thought of it. "Why the sudden curiosity?"_

_ He shrugs storing the information for a much later use. "Perhaps, I'm just a bit curious." He rolls the 'r' like a cat's purr and closes his eyes, pretending to sleep. He could hear her shifting around, gathering up the rest of the uneaten pie and leaving for her duties in the Grounds. "Very curious, indeed." He glances to make sure she left before scurrying off in the opposite direction, away from the Fairy Grounds and towards the rest of the world. _

_ "Hey there friend, care to spare some change?" It was another one of those beggar types who hung around well traveled roads hoping to bump along a kind soul who would be willing to support them. "Hey, frie-" he cuts off short at the sight of Bae's face. _

_ "I'm sorry." Bae says leaning over the old beggar. "I didn't quite heart you, friend." _

_ The beggar shakes his head and rushes off, probably to tell the nearest town about the sudden return of a certain deal maker. It added to the adventure and suspense of the whole ordeal he was going through. "Now, I suppose I should make sure no one's gotten into my castle." _

_ "Did you just come out of the Fairy Grounds?" The voice wasn't voice awe and horror and wonder. Rather it was the voice of a person who knew exactly who he was and what he could do. "You did, didn't you?"_

_ Bae turns around to come face to face with his worst nightmare. Blonde hair, dull colored eyes that he would find boring on any person, and a smile that said 'I'm the best in the world'. "And you must be the ominous Blue Fairy, honor to meet you." _

_ She snorts. "Don't play dumb with me. I know who you are, you're Rumplestiltskin, the deal making guy." She fixes her hair over her shoulders and readjusts her blue cloak. "Now, what I want to know is, what you're doing in the Fairy Grounds?"_

_ "I don't think so." He never liked the blonde, even when he was just watching her. Something about her flitting around and lack of actual understanding of the world made him want to hit her over the head a few times. He pivots on his heel and tries to walk away from her. _

_ "I'm sure the queen will like to know that you're back." She calls out to him trying to act as if she wasn't sitting on something big. "Isn't she the reason why you suddenly disappeared from the world? I heard your castle is still pretty empty at the moment."_

_ Her extensive knowledge about him was very troubling. He glares at her over his shoulder. "How much do you know?" The little nosy prick of a girl was getting on his nerves. _

_ "I could tell you for a, what do you call it?" She tapes her chin sarcastically as if to mock his very being. "Oh yes, a price. You tell me why you're here, and I'll tell you what I know, deal?"_

_ He suddenly appears in front of her face. "Let's get one thing straight, dearie, I make the deals here." It was hard to see how the this girl was the same person as Ivy's only fairy friend. "Here are my terms, you will tell me what you know about me and the queen, and in return, I won't tell your dear little friend about your late night visits to a certain mayor."_

_ Her face visibly pales. She gulps as if all her former confidence had been blown away. "Alright, deal." However, she seems very hesitant at making the deal, as if she didn't know whether or not to actually make it. _

_ "Right, now you just have to sign on the dotted line, and you've got yourself a deal." He creates a long scroll stating the details of the deal. "That is, if you really want to."_

_ She snatches the quill out of his other hand and quickly scrawls out her full name. _

"I can't believe it." Eirys says staring out of the back room window. "That old clock just happens to start working after a stranger comes to town, how mysterious. Wouldn't you agree?"

Mr. Gold merely shrugs seeming to not be too surprised by the clock sudden decision to start working again. He takes a sip of his tea. "I brought back your Tupperware." He points to the plastic bag. "The stew was very delicious." The said dinner that she promised him, was more along the lines of her rushing to make a stew, and making him take it home with him because it interfered with her nightly rituals.

Eirys takes the Tupperware out and drops it in the sink to wash later. She picks up her pale green tea cup. "You always come over and drink whatever tea I put in front of you. Don't you have any preferences?"

"I really don't mind." He replies sitting back in his chair, listening to the rhythmic chimes of the clock tower. "Well, I see there's a widespread of news about Emma this morning."

The main story in the newspaper is dedicated to the gritty life of Emma Swan. "I know, isn't it sad." Eirys picks up her own copy of the article. "You would think that Regina would find a better way to exercise her power than ruining the image of a young girl."

Mr. Gold agrees noticing a familiar truck driving up to the store. "I don't suppose you're waiting for a delivery, are you?" She turns to look out the window, shaking her head angrily as she stomps towards the door.

From the inside, Mr. Gold could see the angry flush that exploded on Eirys's pale cheeks and the cocky smile the truck driver gave her. The driver with his cocky smile on opened up the back and unloaded her flowers. "You better listen next time." She yells at him after he unloaded her flowers in her shop. She slams her store door shut in his face, the bell above the door banging against the door.

"I suppose you're going to be busy today." He could feel his nose getting itchy. The boxes had pollen residue on them from being among other flowers and weeds on their travel to the flower shop. "And I should probably go."

"Oh, well, bye then." Eirys waves awkwardly as he leaves the store. She glances down at the boxes of flowers. "Well, I suppose I should get started with delivery day." She quickly washes up the used tea set and puts it back in its proper place in her tea set collection. "First stop, the Diner."

"Eirys, welcome!" Ruby greets from the counter. "Are those the flowers?" she rushes to open the box. Her ruby red high heels making it hard to do any rushing and her short skirt didn't help either. "They're beautiful." She picks the small potted flowers. They were small simple white and pink buds; some had a few petals opening up.

Eirys crosses the diner off her list of deliveries. "You know where to find me if you want to order more. They need to be watered everyday, but don't try to drown them."

"You're not going to stay?" Ruby pouts childishly, the morning rush was starting to end as the workday began for most people. This meant that Ruby would be utterly bored until the lunchtime rush. "You just got here."

"Yeah, and I have tons of places to be." Eirys indicates the other boxes in her parked car by the sidewalk. "I'll stop by around lunch time and we can chat while I complain about my back pains."

The second place just so happened to be down the opposite side of the street near the elementary school. Eirys was just on the sidewalk when something bopped her on the head, as it turned out, the object was a bright crispy red apple. "Oh, sorry about that."

"Oh, Henry, isn't it a bit early to be tossing apples?" She asks recognizing the little ten year-old. She glances back at the apple which now had a wonderful dent in its side. "Any reason to be tossing your mother's apples?"

He shrugs obviously hiding something. "Nothing really, I was just telling Emma about the fairy tale characters."

"Oh right." Eirys mumbles remembering Mary Margaret mentioning something about a story book and Henry a while back. "So, you think everyone's a fairy tale character?"

He nods enthusiastically, obviously happy that another person believes in his wild theories. "Yeah, and right now we have the advantage, my mom doesn't know this but I took out the last pages, the ones about you." Henry says to Emma, taking a few pieces of ripped paper out of his backpack. He turns towards Eirys. "You're not going to tell anyone are you?"

She shakes her head. "Of course not, you have fun with your mom." She heads towards the next store on her list. After making sure all the flowers were safely delivered, she went back to her car and sat in the driver's seat for a good five minutes. "Right, next are the home deliveries." Most people, when given the option between picking up deliveries and having deliveries being sent to their door often choose the latter, which resulted in Eirys driving around town delivering wilting flowers.

And upon arriving at the most dreaded place in Storybrooke, Eirys came upon a not too unusual sight. She had seen the mayor and the sheriff together many times, but then again, Regina did have her hands in practically every part of the town. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"No not at all," Regina says walking around the sheriff. Their conversation was obviously finished. "Now, as you can see, my poor tree is missing a limb." And indeed her tree was missing a limb, or rather; it was missing the entire right side of itself.

"Yes of course," Eirys says going into her concerned flower child mode. She brushes off some of the wood dust that had been created with the chainsaw. "Well, as you probably already know, it's a strong tree, there seems to be no permanent damage done, a new branch will eventually grow."

The mayor seems satisfied with the answer. "Very well then, carry on with your job, if you'll excuse me, sheriff." She nods at the both of them and retreats back into her mansion of a house.

Eirys trades a look with the sheriff. "This doesn't have anything to do with Henry and Emma, does it?" It was quite obvious that Emma Swan did not receive the warmest welcome from the mayor, which led to Emma wanting to stay in Storybrooke, and leaving a very distraught mayor.

Sheriff Graham sighs. "Afraid so."

The sheriff left her to her plant tending which involved inspecting all the plants around the mayor's mansion like house. "You're so healthy and beautiful this year." Eirys mumbles to a small shrub, its little branches sticking up on a perfectly trimmed circle. "Now, if only she'd let you grow a bit longer."

"You know talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."

Eirys jumps almost tripping over the round shrug. "Oh, Emma, you scared me. I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest or something." She rests a hand against her rapidly beating heart. "You here to see the mayor, again?"

"Yeah, and don't worry, I'm not going to cut down the rest of her apple tree." Emma replies walking up the rest of the way to the house where Regina conducted most of her work as the mayor of Storybrooke.

_ "Ivy, correct?" The smooth mature evil voice asks. The widowed queen smiles at the young girl's obvious discomfort. The dark walls and monotonous accessories of the room added to the queen aura of death and despair. "I was hoping that we'd meet again soon."_

_ "What do you want from me?" Ivy secretly applauds herself for not letting her voice show any signs of her nervousness. "And what did you do to Saphira?" _

_ The queen takes her time walking around the room, a glass of wine in her hand. "Oh, that wish granting fairy? I merely just gave her some interesting information that I thought she might find useful. She had no part of getting you here." She offers a second come of wine to Ivy. "A drink, perhaps?"_

_ "No thank you." Ivy replies swallowing nervously, which was to be expected of course. One moment she was in the forest walking with Saphira to the babbling lake for a relaxing swim and the next moment she was standing in the middle of the queen's private room. _

_ The queen shrugs, downing both of the glasses easily. "Now, down to business, I hear that certain Earth fairies can hear the voices and control the minds of trees, is that true?"_

_ "Well, I suppose that would depend on who you listen to." Ivy replies trying to find the best way out of her current situation what wouldn't result in her dying or being seriously injured in any way. "There are certain legends that speak of such powers."_

_ The queen stops in front of Ivy. "Do you have these powers?" Ivy remains silent, dodging the piercing gazes of the queen. "You do, don't you."_

_ Ivy locks gazes with the queen. "What do you want from me?"_

"_You may have heard of a certain girl whose head holds a price." The queen turns to continue walking around the fairy like a wolf stalking its prey. "I just want you to send out a message to your little tree friends, and if they know where she is or what she's doing, I want you to tell me."_

"_And what if I don't?" The question slips out of her mouth before she could even process it in her mind. _

_The queen smiles at the sudden show of confidence. "If you don't do as I ask, then let's just say that this jar will become all you will ever know." She held up a small jar that a child would put captured fireflies in. "But I'm sure things won't come to that." The queen puts the jar down, but it did little to reassure Ivy. _

"_Then I suppose I should get going." Ivy replies walking towards the door. "How would I contact you when I get a reply?"_

"_Just open this scroll and it'll teleport you here." The queen says handing Ivy a magical scroll. "It can only be used once so make sure you have something before you open it."_

_Ivy takes the scroll, the dark and evil magic of the queen pulsing through the scroll and her fingers. "I will let you know if something comes up." _

_She walks through the doors of the queen's room, "And you better not think of double crossing me, or else there will be dire consequences." The queen calls after her. "I will be watching." _

"_What to do, what to do?" Ivy asks to herself, pacing around the forest. The fact that the queen could have eyes on her inside of the Fairy Ground would mean that the queen had a fairy spy or she could sustain magic for long periods of time. Ivy was willing to put her money on the first choice. "What should I do?"_

"_It looks like someone's a bit busy." The familiar cheerful singsong voice could only belong to one person. "What is the little green fairy doing all the way out here?"_

"_Oh Bae I'm so glad you're here." Ivy says turning to see the face that she had gotten used to seeing on a daily basis. "The queen wants me to help her find Snow White and if I don't she's going to lock me up in a jar and keep me as a pet forever!"_

_His abnormally large eyes widen even larger, if that was even possible. "I didn't think the queen would do something like this. I suppose you should be working and I shall be working to make sure that you work and that she does not lock you the jar forever."_

_Ivy blinks at him, catching only bits and pieces of what he had said. "Very well then, I'll go send out a message." She presses a hand against an old tree, its natural essence was weak, and the tree was dying. _

_Communicating with plants and trees, for Ivy, was almost as natural as breathing the air around her. The prickling minds of the trees around her were constantly chattering, it was sometimes hard to block them out, especially in a dense forest. "What are they talking about?" Bae asks whispering into her ear. _

"_They think you're funny looking." Ivy replies smiling at the comments the old tree was making despite its old age. The trees groan in response to Bae's attempts at kicking and hurting the tree. "They think humans are weird." She mentally told the trees to watch out for Snow White. _

"_Never fear, dearie." Bae says ruffling her hair. "No one's going to hurt you."_


	5. John Doe

"Don't forget to bring the flowers around." Mary Margaret reminds the flower girl. Mary Margaret nervously twists the hem of her flowery dress, checking the clock behind the cash register the fourth time in two minutes. "Is it bad that I'm this nervous about a date?"

Eirys shakes her head. "Of course not, you're a busy person. Though I'm not a person you should be going to for dating advise, you know how many successful relationships I've been in." And that number would be very small.

Mary Margaret nods pacing around the small flower shop. "What should I talk about? I mean, granted that he actually wants to hear my opinion." She rambles on a little longer about all her insecurities, all the while pacing around nervously.

"Shouldn't you be going soon?" Eirys asks checking her watch, it was nearing dinner time, and the growling of her stomach was telling Mary Margaret to leave. She gives the teacher a small shove towards the door. "You'll be fine, just tell me how it goes tomorrow, and I won't forget about the flowers for your little trip."

Getting slightly paranoid, Eirys walks into the backroom and checks the little white flowers she had to bring for the patients at the hospital. The plain terra cotta pots were a little boring and dull to look at, which led to her painstakingly replanting the flowers into thin bright pink vases to lighten the hospital scene.

She floats towards the wonderful aroma of her dinner finishing its cooking on her stove. And, as if the world was conspiring against her, just as she was about to take a sip of her long awaited soup the phone goes off. "Hello, this is Eirys of the Green Fairy, how may I help you?"

"Well, don't you just sound all perky and happy?" The sullen and almost depressing voice on the other side of the line asks. The voice could only belong to one person in all of Storybrooke.

"Mr. Gold, I live next door to your pawn shop and I know for a fact that you haven't left yet so why are you calling me?" Eirys asks dropping her perky professional façade for her more annoyed one. She plops back into her chair and returns to her meal. "Is there any real reason for this call?"

He sniffs on the other side of the line. "I think I'm coming down with something, could you make something for me." He pauses for a moment "please."

Eirys sighs staring at the extra soup in her pot. "Very well, come on over when you have the chance, I have some soup you can have." She clicks the phone off and spoons some soup into another bowl for Mr. Gold.

_"And you promise to find him and bring him back?" The former cheerful fairy asks, unable to see the mysterious deal making, wish granting person through the bandages over her eyes. _

_ "Of course, dearie." He replies, his voice sounding so familiar yet so far. She could feel the edges of her forgotten memories itching for her to remember this man's identity but his name never came to her conscious. "For a price of course."_

_ She nods, the prickling green grass sending waves of information to her telling her that he was going to stand up. "What do you want from me?" And indeed, he did stand up, creating something out of magic. _

_ "Well, in the future, you will do whatever I say and I will do whatever you say, as long as each of us says the word 'please'." He says singing the last word. He guides her hands towards the scroll he made out of magic. "And all you have to do is sign right here." He hands her a quill and places her hand some place on the scroll. _

_ The fairy girl automatically signs her name. "I won't ever forgive you if you fail to find him." She conjures up a mental picture of the person she kept seeing in her dreams, however, only the fuzzy image of a man came to mind. _

_ "Don't worry about it." Rumplestiltskin replies quietly tucking the scroll into the inner pocket of his jacket. "I'll find him for you, Ivy."_

Eirys giggles at the facial expression Mr. Gold had on when she dragged him out of her store in the middle of their tea time in order to get to the hospital on time. "What are we doing here?" He demands through gritted teeth. She could practically feel the irritation seeping out of his pores.

"You didn't have to come if you hate it so much." She replies placing the box at the volunteer station for Mary Margaret to pick up when she brought her students later in the day. "Why do you hate the hospital so much? God knows how many times you've been here."

Mr. Gold glares at every passing nurse and staff member until they step out of the obsessively clean building. "I've never been to the hospital once in my life." He states stiffly, the morning chill was just starting to wear off. "Besides being born."

"Really?" Eirys taps her chin thinking of an instance of ever being in the hospital for medical attention. "How strange, I can't seem to remember anything about it." Her blank face contorts into one of confusion. "I'm going to go take a walk." She steps off the sidewalk to cross the street.

"I trust that you won't be going back to the store for the rest of the day then?" Mr. Gold was used to her disappearances. Eirys, in the spur of the moment, would decide to give herself a small holiday and just wander off somewhere, only to return late at night.

Eirys laughs, "I'll be at the Tree Castle if you need me." To be exact it wasn't really a castle nor was it in or anywhere near a tree. It was a small abandoned wooden play set with small towers.

"Oh, hey there Eirys." Henry waves at her from his perch on the castle-like structure, his big book about fairy tale characters in his lap. Next to him sat his birth mother, a cynical look on her face. "You're just in time."

"Time for what?" Eirys stops next to them, leaning against the wooden platform. It was clear that the two of them were plotting something, or it was more like Henry was clearly plotting something and was determined to drag both Eirys and Emma into his mess. "What are you up to and does your mom know what you're doing?"

Henry shrugs. "Only if you tell her, and you have to promise not to tell her." He whispers. "It's called Operation Cobra."

"What is?" Many people often say that Eirys is the cliché super nice and caring person; however, they also never forget to mention how dense she is. "I'm sorry, but what is this Operation Cobra thing?"

Henry traded looks with Emma and they seemed to have an unspoken agreement to trust the flower shop owner. "Operation Cobra is how we're going to bring back the happy endings." Henry explains as if it were his master plan.

"Right, because everyone here are fairy tale characters." Eirys says connecting the two points together. "So what character am I?" She asks pointing to herself.

Henry frowns. "I don't know, but I found Prince Charming, Emma's father." He opens his book to a picture of the supposed Prince Charming. "He's in the hospital, in a coma."

"Wait, so she's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?" Eirys asks. "So, then, that makes this guy Henry's grandfather."

"And, apparently, Mary Blanchard is grandmother." Emma adds.

Now things were getting mind blowing. "So, this evil queen's curse is keeping them apart with the coma situation, right?" Eirys says trying to make sense of the situation and the weird family tree that was appearing. "And now we're just going to tell her that her Prince Charming is the John Doe at the hospital?"

"Woah, telling someone that their soul mate's in a coma probably isn't helpful." Emma says "not having a happy ending is painful enough, but giving false hope is far worse."

"But what if I'm right?" Henry asks making his ultimate point. "We know who they are, now they have to know."

"And how are you going to do that?" Eirys asks scratching her head, she never liked mysteries and problem solving. "We can't just insert a needle in his head and pump information into his brain."

Henry laughs at her outrageous suggestion. "We have to remind them of who they really are. We have to get Ms. Blanchard to read their story to John Doe, and maybe he'll remember who he really is."

Emma leans forward, "ok."

"Ok?" Henry repeats as he expected her to disagree with his plan, which was probably what Emma was really doing inside her head.

"Yeah, but we'll do it my way. I'll ask her."

And in that intense moment, Beethoven's Ode to Joy burst from Eiry's coat pocket. "Sorry, hello?"

"You're customers are coming into my shop looking for you." The irritated voice says over the phone. "There is one lady who keeps coming here every ten minutes, she's is getting on my nerves."

Eirys sighs dramatically. "Mr. Gold, you can run a town, but you can't control a simple little old lady. You're starting to loose your touch, don't worry, I'll be there." She hangs up her phone. "Meet at the café to talk about it tomorrow?"

Emma and Henry nod giving Eirys the chance to rush back to her shop and save Mr. Gold from his untimely demise. Eirys took her sweet time actually getting to the pawn shop, which resulted in a very, very, **very**, flustered Mr. Gold. "I see you took your time getting here." He had a small ice pack to his forehead. "What did she want anyways?"

"Some seeds for her garden, she wants petunias this year." Eirys replies as if it were a big deal. "It's really important to have petunias, it's the newest trend, and everyone's doing it this year."

Mr. Gold just holds his head in an aching fashion. "She almost cracked my head open for some petunias." He shakes his head in disbelief. Eirys had walked into the store the moment the 'crazy lady' as Mr. Gold had called her threw her arms up into the air in frustration which caused a whole shelf of objects to come crashing down over Mr. Gold's head. "And why wasn't she angry at you?"

"Because I used to babysit her children." Eirys replies simply passing him tuna, cheese, and cucumber sandwich. "Besides, you probably did something to her first; she's actually just a nice little old lady who likes to plant flowers in her little garden."

"With a crazy temper," Mr. Gold adds biting into his sandwich. "What were you doing at the Tree Castle; I can't imagine there's much to do there."

Eirys shrugs, "I had a little chat with Emma. She seems nice. I don't see why Regina hates her so much. It must be because she's jealous that Henry likes Emma so much. I'm going to meet up with them tomorrow at the diner."

"Right, I'll be fine, no need to worry about me." Mr. Gold replies moodily. He tears into a second sandwich.

Eirys rolls her blue eyes. "I'll bring some iced tea over for you if that'll make you feel any better." He nods once and returns to his sandwich.

_"So you're the famous Snow White." Ivy says taking the images of the pretty brunette with blood red lips and skin as pale as snow. "You're shorter than I expected you to be."_

_ Snow White smiles at the miniature sized fairy floating on a cloud of fairy dust in front of her face. "So, who exactly are you? Are you supposed to grant my wishes or something?"_

_ Ivy puffs up her cheeks. "Not all fairies grant wishes, young lady." She bops Snow on the nose. "I am the Flower Fairy, I do earth type magic." She explains slowly. _

_ "Then I don't think you can help me." Snow moves to walk around the fairy. "If you find a wish granting fairy, tell her that I have a wish that needs granting. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to steal and people to avoid." _

_ "Hold it." Ivy says flying in front of Snow once again, stopping the girl in her tracks. "I came here to warn you! The Queen asked me to send out a message throughout the forest, if I don't she's going to turn me into fairy dust." _

_ "That's really not my problem right now." Snow White replies ducking under the fairy to continue her way through the forest. "And if she's so keen on turning you into fairy dust, how come you're here?"_

_ Ivy flies behind the former princess. "Because I came to warn you, you're in terrible danger." Earth fairies were known to have the greatest amount of patience, but even they can become frustrated every once in a blue moon. "Listen to me." She sticks her hand out, smacking Snow in the forehead. "There is a pair of scouts coming this way from over yonder and you as you can clearly tell, there are no climbable trees which means you will be caught if I don't help you." _

_ Sure enough the sounds of whining horses and clanking armor bounce off the trees, echoing around them. Snow glares at the direction the scouts were coming from. "I don't suppose you have a way out then, do you?"_

_ "Just leave it to me." Ivy replies, her tiny body glowing a sultry lime green color. She flies around Snow, the fairy dust coming off her wings causing the foliage around Snow White's legs to sprout up from the earth. "Hang on tight, and try not to look down, you'll probably get sick."_

_ Snow White grabs onto a sturdy root that was pulled up with the grass and plants. "How exactly is a giant hill supposed to save me from them?" She glances over at the scouts who were not very silent about their arrival._

_ "Don't worry about it," Ivy reassures, her tiny arms shifting and molding the shape of the giant hill of plants, dirt, and grass into something that resembled a large leafy tree. "And now to make it look the part," branches and the trunks solidified into wood and the green leaves changed color to match the surrounding trees. _

_ Ivy flies up to settling herself on Snow's shoulder just as the scouts arrive at their tree. "I don't recall this tree ever being here." One of the scouts says tapping a hand against the trunk. "Do you?"_

_ "Who knows?" His partner shrugs looking at the trees around them. "They all look the same to me, let's get going."_

_ The first scout nods. "Must be my imagination then," they turn their horses away from the tree and ride on through the forest. _

_ Snow glances at Ivy who had a triumphant smile on her tiny face. "Not bad," Snow praises, softly climbing down the tree. "So, where do you suggest I go, then?"_

_ "Go between kingdoms," Ivy explains, "My magic is limited to the surrounding forests of the Queen's domain, go to the forest between the Kingdoms of Midas and George, you'll be save there, for a while."_

_ Snow White seems to contemplate the suggestion. "Not bad," She heads in the opposite direction of the scouts. "I don't suppose you have anywhere to go at the moment."_

_ "I'm in not too much of a hurry," Ivy replies shrugging her thing shoulders. "You can drop me off for my fee."_

_ Snow raises an eyebrow at the fairy. "You're making me pay for your services? I thought fairies were supposed to be nice and giving from their hearts."_

_ Ivy snorts, resting on Snow's shoulder. "That's only in fairy tales, how else am I supposed to make a living if I don't have some sort of income? Is it possible to walk a bit faster, I want to get out of the forest by nightfall?" _

_ "Don't push your luck," Snow replies, picking up her pace slightly as the sun starts to set in the West. _

"Hey Henry, where does your mother think you are?" Eirys asks settling in the seat next to Emma. "And is that Regina's shirt?" The black pearly silk shirt seemed awfully familiar.

"Don't worry; she won't even know that it's gone." Henry assures taking a sip of his hot chocolate. "Besides, she thinks I'm out playing Whack-a-mole."

Emma and Eirys trade looks. "And she bought that?" Emma asks, not believing the stupidity of the mayor.

Henry shrugs. "She believes it if she wants to." At that moment the bell above the door chimes to alert the trio of Mary Margaret's entrance. "Look, she's here."

"Listen, don't get her hopes up, we're just getting started here." Emma warns Henry as Mary Margaret briskly walks over in excitement, sitting next to Henry.

Eirys glances at Mary Margaret with great anticipation. "He woke up." She says plainly as if it weren't such a big deal.

"What?" Emma and Eirys ask in unison.

"I knew it." Henry says quietly, obviously holding back enough excitement for all four of them.

"I mean, he didn't wake up wake up, but he grabbed my hand." Mary explains

Eirys taps a finger against her mug of steamy diner tea. "You think he's remembering then?"

"What did the doctor say?" Emma, being the rational and reasonable one, asks.

"That I imagined it, but I'm not crazy." Mary Margaret says shaking her head slightly. "I know it happened."

The four of them stay silent, letting the information sink in. "We have to go back." Henry announces, "You have to read to him again."

Mary Margaret takes a breath as if to decline that offer, but "let's go." The two of them slide out of the booth heading towards the door.

"Wait, wait," Emma says scooting out of her booth along with Eirys. "You don't think that he's actually."

"Prince Charming, of course not, but somehow, some way, I touched him." Mary Margaret explains, heading out the door after Henry.

Eirys sighs, tugging on Emma's borrowed shirt. "Let's go, there's no harm in just visiting a coma patient at the hospital." Emma sighs and follows her out the door. It was a short walk from the diner to the hospital.

Henry and Mary Margaret were already jogging through the hospital hallways by the time Emma and Eirys got through the hospital doors. Emma rolls her eyes and jogs to catch up with them. "Isn't it against the rules to run in the hospital?" Eirys mumbles to herself and takes her leisurely time walking towards John Doe's hospital room. "What's going on?"

Seeing Sheriff Graham there wasn't something she was expecting to see. Seeing the sheriff, Emma, Mary Margaret, and Henry talking seriously outside of an empty coma patient's room was slightly worrisome, it didn't take a brain surgeon to put one and one together. "John Doe's missing."

Eirys nods as if missing coma patients was a totally normal thing to hear about. A buzzing noise starts from her coat pocket. "Right, excuse me." She steps away from the group, checking the caller ID on her phone. "Mr. Gold, hi."

"I hope that your holidays aren't going to become a permanent habit." He says simply in his usual cool and collected voice. "Your customers are starting to get on my nerves. It seems like the days that they come by just so happen to be the days that you aren't there."

Eirys laughs, "Are you saying that I'm doing this on purpose?"

"I've been suspecting it." He replies a rustling sound comes from his end; he was probably pacing around his counter, too frustrated to get any work done. "Just tell me when you're going to be gone the entire day next time, alright?"

"Of course, you're the best." Eirys replies watching the mayor walk away with Henry's hand clutched tightly in hers. "Anyways, I gotta go, might not be back for a while."

"Then that's where we have to start." The doctor, the sheriff, Emma, and Mary Margaret head off towards some unknown destination.

Eirys follows behind them. "What's going on?" She whispers to Emma, trying to keep up with the taller blonde's long strides. "Did you find something about John Doe?"

"We're going to go an ask security about last night." Emma explains glances down at the shorter girl. "Don't you have a flower shop to run? I don't think your customers are going to be too happy if you're gone all day."

Eirys waves her hand, banishing the worry. "I've placed my top assistant on the job. I'm sure Mr. Gold will act with great dignity and professionalism towards my customers."

_ "You set me up." Bae jabs an accusing finger at the cheerful blue-eyed fairy flying next to him. He pulls another twig out of his hair. _

_ "I did no such thing." Ivy replies acting totally appalled by his accusation. "I told them that I was putting my best man on the job." _

_ Bae gives her a look that clearly said that he wasn't too amused by her words. "I could've been killed by those trolls. And why did we have to go and fix their bridge?"_

_ "I was in the neighborhood when a little flower told me about some struggling trolls." Ivy replies avoiding Bae's looks of 'are you serious?' "They said they needed someone bigger to help them, so I suggested my most trusted assistant."_

_ Bae snorts, "And look what happened, dearie, they tried to eat me." _

_ "I wouldn't go that far," Ivy says trying to make her friend feel better, though, in their current situation it was really hard to keep a straight face on. "I mean, we managed to find you some clothes, eventually."_

_ "Yes, and now I'm wearing a pink dress that's too tight around my stomach and too loose around my chest, not to mention the fact that I was almost married off to some troll king."_

_ "And your wedding dress was simply lovely." Ivy says unable to keep her mouth shut. "But pink is definitely your color." _

_ Bae reaches out and flicks Ivy's tiny fairy body making her fly a bit ways away from him. "Now, I have to find some better clothes." He picks up the layers of skirts of his pink dress and hikes through the muddied forest; the slight drizzle wasn't helping his situation. "I just want to go back to the Fairy Grounds, have some pie, and sleep."_

_ "Oh, you can't do that." Ivy replies catching up to him, a concerned look on her miniature seized face. "We still have a lot of work to do, and I already told them that you'd be coming to help them."_

_ Bae raises a brown. "What are you going on about?"_

_ "I told some people that I would help them survive this drought and that I'd be sending my most trusted assistant to help them, as of right now." The pair comes across a nice looking small farm sitting on the edge of the forest. "And look, just in time too."_

_ The old farmer looks up and waves at them, turning to call for someone. "I'm just going to go back in there." Bae tries to pivot around sharply, underestimating the slipperiness of the mud and tripping over his long dress causing to do a wonderful face plant in the mud. "This is not my day."_

_ "Here, let me give you a hand, young miss." The farmer says helping Bae up, "Don't worry, young lady, my wife will draw you a nice bath. Thank you for coming all this way, miss Fairy." He nods towards Ivy. "There hasn't been too much rain these days, too many mouths to feed and too few plants to eat."_

_ "Mouths?" Bae asks limping towards the house. "How many people live with you?"_

_ "Don't worry, young lady." The farmer says smiling at Bae, clearly, his eyes were going. "I have three sons to help with the harvest, but there's nothing to harvest." He laughs at his own little joke as they reach the house. "Mary, I found them."_

_ "Welcome," a plump woman says wiping her hands on a towel. "Come in, come in, oh you poor baby, come here you." She reaches out and grabs Ivy's tiny body, rubbing a slightly damp towel around her little body. "I was expecting someone bigger, but I suppose help comes in all shapes."_

_ Ivy struggles to get out of the Mary's grasp, freeing herself just enough to return to her normal full-body shape. "Actually, I was just wondering when we could start, you see my assistant has been waiting to do some work, just can't seem to get enough of it." The farmer and his wife were smiling at Ivy, and didn't notice the death glare Bae shot her. _

_ "Oh, of course, dearie." Mary says, taking Bae's mud covered hand. "Let's get you properly cleaned, can't have a young lady doing work in that type of dress." The two make their way towards what seems like the bathroom. "Listen young men, I want you to turn your heads towards the wall and don't turn around till I say so."_

_ Ivy can't help but start laughing, imaging the whole bathroom scene. "I'm sorry, sir, that was unprofessional." She giggles a bit at the thought of Bae. "So, what exactly do you need done?"_

"Let me handle this, this is my world." Sheriff Graham says heading off to pick up the lost trail.

"What does he mean this is his world, don't you find people too?" Eirys asks gracefully stepping over the uneven ground, turning to help Mary Margaret stabilize herself.

"Yeah, well, usually the people I find head off to Vegas." Emma explains glancing around the darkened forest. "Not many of them hit the woods."

"It's an interesting job, finding people." Mary Margaret says trying to make some sort of conversation. "How did you fall into it?"

"Finding people is just what I've done, for as long as I can remember."

"What made you start? Was it your parents?" Emma gives Mary Margaret a shocked look. "Henry told me that you were of a similar situation as his own. Did you ever find them?"

"Depends who you ask."

Twigs crack behind them as Henry comes running down a nearby hill. "Did you guys find him yet?"

"No, Henry, and you shouldn't be here." Emma says staring at Henry who seemed to have escaped his mother's custody, stolen a flashlight, and ran into the woods to find them.

"I can help you," He says, as always, trying to convince them of his outlandish ideas. "I know where he's going."

"And where's that exactly?" Eirys asks.

Henry looks over at Mary Margaret. "He's looking for you."

"I suppose it makes no sense, what-so-ever." Eirys says Graham signaling them to follow down a well maintained trail. "Why would he look for her?"

"Because she was the first person he saw, he wants to find you." Henry says. Emma and Mary Margaret turn around to talk to Henry.

"This isn't about me, I think he's lost and confused." Mary Margaret explains. "He's been in a coma for a long time."

"But he loves you." Henry blurts out. "You need to stop chasing him and let him find you."

Emma seems to run out of patience. "Kid, you need to go home, where's your mom? She's going to kill me."

"She dropped at the house and then I went out." Henry says, his voice quieting to a normal talking level, almost like a loud mumble.

"We need to get you back immediately."

"No!"

Eirys wanders down the trail, following it bend. "Hey guys, I think I found something." Sheriff Graham runs back up the trail, while the trio runs down it. They all point their flashlights towards the spot Eirys's was pointing to. On a small leaf was a hospital bracelet with the name 'John Doe' printed on it. "Is that?"

"Blood." Emma confirms the identification of the sticky red substance that accompanied the bracelet.

"Ok, I need to leave now." Eirys says, blood and her never went well with each other. The last time she went to doctor's office to draw blood, she almost passed out at the sight of the little droplet of blood swelling from her finger.

They walk down the rest of the trail, coming to the Toll Bridge over a small trickling river. "The trail ends at the water line." Sheriff Graham says. The five of them shine their flashlights around the water.

"Oh my God," Mary Margaret tosses her flashlight to the side rushing somewhere into the water. "Oh my God, oh my God."

Eirys follows after Mary Margaret, catching the poor clumsy girl on more than one occasion while the sheriff phoned for an ambulance. With the combined forces of the four adults and a watching ten year old boy, they managed to get John Doe out of the river and onto dry, rocky land. "No, no, no, I found you; everything's going to be ok."

"Come on Henry, no need to see all of this." Eirys says taking Henry to his mother, watching Mary Margaret perform CPR on John Doe.

"Oh, look, he's back, he's back." Eirys says watching the river water spurt out of John's mouth. "He's alive."

John Doe looks up at Mary Margaret. "Thank you."

Mary Margaret smiles in relief that he wasn't brain damaged or seriously injured. "Who are you?"

"I don't know." Or maybe he was seriously injured in some way.

The ambulance got to their location in record time, rushing John Doe back to his former hospital room. The nurses close the doors to keep everyone but the hospital staff members.

"David!" And that's the moment the pretty blonde came rushing into the room, causing some type of commotion in the 'David's room.

Mary Margaret looks around their little group, matching the confused faces of everyone. "Who is she?"

"That's Kathryn Nolan, his wife." The mayor says coming up behind them.


	6. Mother?

For as long as anyone could really remember, Eirys and Mr. Gold never got into such a disagreement that they would simply refuse to speak to one another. However, it seems like there is a first for everything. And the funny part was that it all started with a small conversation over tea and freshly baked tarts.

"Cherry Green iced tea," Eirys says filling a small red tea cup with the tea. "I put some candied cherries in to add some sweetness. And, don't touch yet." She slaps his nosy little hand away from the steaming tarts. "You're always so impatient. Its why always get burned."

Mr. Gold shrugs, watching Eirys's tiny pale hands use a spatula to scoop a nice hot cherry tart off the cooking tray. "I always get what I want, eventually." Once Eirys places the tart on the plate in front of him, he immediately attacks it with his fork.

"Was that Mr. Hermann coming out of your shop yesterday?" Eirys asks, the fact that someone like Mr. Hermann would even take the time to visit such a shop was beyond her realm of thinking. He is the type of man who thought of himself as being above most people of Storybrooke and would more likely be shopping in a classier district than theirs. "What did he want?"

Mr. Gold swallows a giant forkful of tart before answering. "He had a small problem, and I proposed an answer to his problem. Do you know where I can find an Ashley Boyd?"

"She does a bunch of odd jobs, mostly cleaning I think." Eirys says trying to recall the last place she saw the young blonde girl. "She was going out with Sean Hermann."

"Well they were more than just going out." Mr. Gold says sipping his tea carefully, clearing having just burnt his tongue on the cherry tart.

Eirys's blue eyes go really wide, "you mean that he got her pregnant?" there had been rumors that Sean and Ashley were moving around the bases, but the idea that Ashley as carrying a little human being in her tummy was slightly overwhelming. "And you're saying that Ashley's baby is the 'problem'?"

Mr. Hermann would think that Ashley's baby was a problem that needed fixing, but the thought that Mr. Gold, her friend, would simply just go along with it was sickening. Mr. Gold, however, doesn't seem to be too bothered by it. "Is there a problem with that?"

"You can't just call someone's baby a little 'problem'" Eirys practically shouts. "And doesn't Ashley have any say in this matter, it's also her baby, I mean, it's literally a part of her for a full nine months."

Mr. Gold just stares at her, letting her go through her rants before speaking. "She'll be paid quite nicely for all of her problems. And you don't have to worry about the baby; it'll be in a nice home in Boston."

"Mr. Gold, how are we friends?" Eirys asks taking her tea cup and pouring its contents down the drain. "I think we need to just stop seeing each other for a while, I don't think I can be friends with someone like you right now." She walks back to her house, locking the door behind her.

_ "I still can't believe it," Ivy says, her hand shaking slightly as she tries to pour the steaming tea into the cup. "The entire Fairy Grounds are in complete shock right now."_

_ Bae takes the tea pot and the tea cup, serving himself and his partner some tea. "And what, exactly, happened that has the whole world shocked?" He picks up a small biscuit and taking a hearty bite out of it. _

_ "It was one of the Fairy Godmothers; they're the major human and fairy ambassadors." Ivy explains sipping the Jasmine tea, "they only grant wishes to the purest of hearts and they have the strongest magical abilities. Every fairy dreams of becoming a Fairy Godmother."_

_ Bae can't help but snort. "You wanted to be a Fairy Godmother, waving magical wands around granting wishes all day?" somehow the image was too funny to keep to himself, he really couldn't see Ivy doing something like that. "I think you're fine just the way you are." He says poking her nose after each word. _

_ Ivy rubs her nose. "But you haven't heard the most interesting part yet." She scoots around so that she was sitting right in front of him to make sure she had his undivided attention. "I heard that she burst from having too much magic inside of her."_

_ Bae lifts an eyebrow. "And how would one go about bursting from magic?"_

_ "I imagine that it would be like flooding a fairy's magical channels with an opposite flowing magic which blocks up all her magic, burning her from the inside out." _

_ Bae nods slowly, "I see, how interesting. And I suppose you'll be burying her wand since her body went 'burst'." He does a little hand motion to symbolize the bursting. _

_ "Actually, the fairies who found her never recovered her wand." Ivy says tapping her chin. "Perhaps some human picked it and decided to keep it." She shrugs, clearly not worried about that specific situation causing any troubles. "Only magical creatures can use something as powerful as a Fairy Godmother's wand."_

_ "Very interesting. Very interesting indeed."_

"Maybe we should have code names." Henry says walking with his mother to his bus stop at the end of the street.

"I thought Cobra was our code name." Emma replies, giving a small wave towards the flower girl. "Hey, what're you doing here by yourself; don't you usually hang out with Mr. Gold on your days off?"

"That's the mission, I mean us," Henry specifies, hurrying a bit to walk with Eirys. "Is it true that you and Mr. Gold aren't talking to each other anymore?"

Eirys nods gloomily, dragging her feet along the sidewalk. "We had an argument, and I kind of told him that I didn't want to be friends anymore." The entire subject seemed to be making her gloomier than before, if it was even possible. "So, what's this business with code names?"

"For Operation Cobra," Henry explains as the bus rolls to a stop next to a line of kids. "What do you think we should call Emma?"

"Well, you could just call me 'Emma' for now." Emma replies, clearly not taking the chance to be creative.

Henry looks the slightest bit disappointed at the name. "Oh, well, bye then, Emma." He waves towards Eirys before getting onto the bus. The doors snapping shut behind him and the engine spurs to life as it heads towards the school.

Unfortunately the peaceful quiet was destroyed by a beep of the police siren. "What's with the siren?" Emma asks as sheriff Graham steps out of the police car, walking around it to talk to Emma.

"It's so hard to get your attention."

"Well you got it," Emma says crossing her arms protectively. "Are you going to arrest me again?"

"I want to thank both you for your help finding the coma patient." The sheriff says nodding towards Eirys. "We all owe you're a debt of gratitude."

Eirys perks up a bit clapping her hands. "Emma, do you think we could get the key to the city? I think I saw it once in Regina's office, right next to her plaque titling her 'Mayor of Storybrooke'."

"How about a job?" Sheriff Graham asks, casting an apologetic look to Eirys. "I could use a deputy."

"Thank you but I have a job," Emma says glancing at Eirys. "Actually, I think we both do."

Eirys shakes Emma slightly. "Come on Emma, it'll be good for you to do some work, get your mind off of the mayor who's out to destroy your life. And I heard there's good dental insurance."

Graham chuckles pulling out a sheriffs card from his wallet. "Give me a call if you happen to have a change of heart. Oh, and your customers are bothering Mr. Gold again, need a lift back home?" He asks Eirys.

Eirys rolls her bright blue eyes. "He probably called the police just for the heck of it." But she gets in the police car anyways, turning around in the seat to wave at Emma until they turn out of sight.

"Oh, Eirys dearest, Mr. Gold is absolutely furious." One of her loyal customers says hobbling about the store as Eirys carefully wraps the little lady's order. "He's been this way ever since that little argument you two had a while ago. I swear he's getting worse by the day." She picks up a small pink and purple iris from the freebies box.

"He's such a child sometimes." Eirys says tightly tying a ribbon around the stems of the flowers, fluffing the tissue a little, and then handing them to her customer. "It'll blow over soon and then he'll just be his usual annoying self."

The little lady pays for her flowers. "I sure hope so; I can't imagine what he might do next."

It was pretty late at night when Eirys angrily stomped down the stairs to her front door at the sound of annoying taps and knocks. "Mr. Gold, what are you—oh dear lord, are you bleeding? Is that blood? Oh, that is blood, come in, come in." All hostile thoughts and comments were lost at the sight of red bodily fluid that came trickling out of Mr. Gold's head.

"Thanks," Mr. Gold winces slightly as she presses an icepack to his wound. He takes a small sip of Eirys's precious chocolate chai tea, which she only took out for special occasions. "But you really didn't have to do this." He indicates towards the almost full fledge meal that she had whipped out of her fridge.

"This is all, my fault," Eirys says dabbing an alcohol swab on his wound. "If only I had stopped you sooner none of this would've happened."

Mr. Gold bites his lip to keep himself from saying something that might lead him to having more than one head injury. "Right, well then, as of a few minutes ago, Ashley Boyd ran off with something important."

"Well, I could take you to Mary Margaret's so we can talk to Emma. She's really good at finding things." Eirys says packing away her first aid kit. "In the mean time, I suppose I can pull some bed covers out on the couch. I am not sending someone home with a head injury, you are going to sleep on the couch and that's final." She adds before Mr. Gold could decline her offer.

_"I will tie you to the bed if I have to but you are going to sleep here." Ivy says blocking the door with her small frame. When he stood up straight, he was a good half a head taller than her and could easily force his way out of the door. Ignoring the fact that she could call up an entire forest to kill him with the snap of her fingers. "You are staying in this room."_

_ Bae hold up his hands in surrender going back to his makeshift bed made with old blankets and many plush pillows. "I suppose there are worse things in life." He sighs dramatically settling down against the cold floor of Ivy's little cottage. _

_ Thunder clouds clap around outside and lighting flashes around, casting creepy weird shadows along the walls. The only lights in the small cottage were sets of candles that Ivy had placed around the living area after the sun went down and the storm clouds rolled around. "It was a good thing I went to check up on you or else you would be a roasted turkey." It was much more like the rain had started to come down, harder than a usual rainstorm would be and Ivy literally lifted Bae's tree out of the ground and took it back to her cottage. _

_ "I would have been fine." Bae can't help but counter. A smelly old patched up blanket pulled up to his chin. "I've slept in storms before you know." To be exact, once a storm gets bad enough he'd head off towards his castle and wait out the storm there. Of course, she caught him before he could get to his nice warm castle with fluffy beds and glowing fires warming the room. _

_ He could practically hear Ivy's eyes rolling. "Yeah, and how many times have to gotten sick because of the storms? My medicine cabinet is running low and I have to wait a few days before I can go out and get more." She always insisted on tending to his illness whenever something came up, even when it was a simple sore throat or a stuffy nose she'd be on him like a bee on a flower. _

_ Ivy goes around the room, blowing out most of the candles, leaving a few lit by the windows and on the table for light. "You might want to hold back on the herbs, just a little." He makes sure to keep his eyes on the ceiling, ignoring the heated glare that was burning the side of his head. _

_ "Just sleep." She drops another pillow on his head before heading back to her own room which was just behind a small olive green curtain. The thunder rolls above them, shaking the house slightly. The Fairy Grounds were known for their peaceful balance with nature, they usually weren't as affected by storms and other disasters from nature as much as the humans were. So this storm, was the tadest bit frightening, especially for Ivy, who was never a big fan of storms. _

_ Inside her head, which was usually filled with the calming thoughts of the forest trees and the bubbling laughter of nearby streams, were now filled with thoughts of fear. Mainly the forest's fear of lightening, besides its flashes of spooky light, if it were to hit a tree, fire could ensure. And when the forest was in pain, it caused mental anguish for any and all earth specialized fairies, especially those with a deep rooted connection to the earth._

_ Half way through the night Ivy wraps a thick blanket around her body and crawls out of her bed. She pulls the curtain separating her room and Bae's borrowed room which also happened to be her kitchen and lounging space. "Bae, are you awake?" she meekly whispers. Ivy expected no real reply from his rolled up form so when he actually responded she almost jumped backwards. _

_ "I am now," his voice mumbles through the dark. The candles which she had lit had gone out leaving the room totally dark except for when the lightening sent a bright flash of momentary brightness. "What's wrong?" _

_ "I'm scared." Ivy whispers back whimpering as the lightening flashes. "Can I sleep with you?"_

_ Bae's movements were hidden by the darkness. It was only when he flickered her in the head did she realize that he had gathered up most of his bedding material and walked to her little room in the dark. "You have a nice bed." He says bouncing on the fluffy mattress. He spreads the pillows and blankets around the bed, creating a small next like structure. "Come on, some of us need some sleep."_

_ Ivy didn't need to be told twice, she practically threw herself onto the bed, burying her head in the mound of pillows and blankets, accidentally kicking Bae. "Sorry," She whispers, calming her movements enough for both of them to find a proper position to sleep. _

_ "It's fine," Bae says yawning and quickly drifting off to sleep. "Just go to sleep." He absently pats her on the head, immediately calming the horrid thoughts that were racing through her mind. "Go to sleep."_

He didn't wake up to the smell of coffee; rather, it was the pungent smell of pomegranates that stirred him out of his sleep. "It's about time you woke up. I almost thought you were going to sleep the whole day away." Mr. Gold checks the clock hanging in the kitchen. It was barely seven in the morning.

"Right," he cracks his neck having slept on it weird all night. "Pomegranate tea today?"

Eirys nods setting the table for two. "I have toast, fruit, juice, celery, and tea. Oh, and I have a fine collect of jams if you want any." She opens up a cupboard which was almost overflowing with different types of jams, preserves, and other dried fruity things.

Mr. Gold shakes his head, settling to poke at some freshly cut fruits. He accepts the small blue and white tea cup filled with sweet dried pomegranate seeds and green tea leaves. He watches her as she watches him. "Is there something the matter?"

"Do you think I should make sandwiches?" Eirys asks nibbling on the corner of a piece of crispy toast. "It hardly seems courteous to ask for their help and not give them something." She pushes out her chair and stands up. "I think I have some left over cucumbers in here somewhere." She digs through her half empty fridge looking for the cool green vegetable.

"I highly doubt they would care about receiving cucumber and cheese sandwiches." Mr. Gold replies having noticed that Mary Margaret wasn't a big fan of such sandwiches. "Perhaps you should make cookies."

Eirys just glances at him. "You only want me to make cookies so you can eat them all." She rolls her eyes placing cucumbers, bread, cheese, carrots, lemons, and avocados on her kitchen counter. She quickly mixes the carrots and avocados together, spraying some lemon juice on it and adding black pepper too. "Now we'll have enough sandwiches to feed everyone." She gives a glance at Mr. Gold as he tries to sneak a sample.

Mr. Gold gently places the sandwiches on brightly colored plastic plates, covering the top with saran wrap. "I suppose they'll be up to have breakfast by now." Eirys lifts the picnic basket with all of their sandwiches in it. "We can take my car."

"Oh come on," Eirys says dragging him away from the pawn shop parking lot. "It's not that far, we can walk. Walking is healthy for you."

Mary Margaret's apartment wasn't far from Eirys's flower shop allowing them to reach her place just as more people were waking up and stores were opening. "Mary Margaret, it's so nice to see you again." Eirys says when the school teacher opens her door.

"Is Miss. Swan here?" Emma walks over to the door at the sound of her name. "Hi, my name is Mr. Gold we met briefly upon your arrival."

Emma shakes his out stretched hand. "I remember." She says putting her guard up.

"I have a proposition for you, Miss. Swan." Mr. Gold says. "I need your help looking for someone."

Eirys notices the awkward glances Emma was casting towards Mary Margaret. "Why don't you help me with these sandwiches?" She loops a thin arm around Mary Margaret's arm and walking her to the most secluded corner of the kitchen. Mr. Gold hands a picture to Emma, walking into the room to discuss the details.

"What do you think is going on?" Mary Margaret asks trying not to look like she was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. She glances at the plates of sandwiches Eirys had brought. "This is quite a bit of cucumber and Swiss cheese sandwiches." She says unwrapping some of the plates.

"Oh don't worry," Eirys says handing Mary Margaret a different plate. "I made avocado and carrot sandwiches too, which one do you think Emma would like better?"

Emma and Mr. Gold's conversation seemed to reach a high point until someone came walking through the door. "Hey, Emma I was thinking we could—" Henry stops talking at the sight of Mr. Gold standing in the middle of the apartment.

"Hi Henry," Mr. Gold says trying add a bit of excitement in his voice. "How are you?"

"Ok." He replies timidly. Not many children knew how to talk to Mr. Gold, if any of them were willing to talk to him in the first place.

Mr. Gold nods rushing to the door. "Good, give my regards to your mother. Good luck, Miss. Swan." He glances back at Eirys. "I suppose I'll leave her in your hands, Miss. Blanchard." He walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Do you have any idea who that is?" Henry asks

"Yeah, of course I do," Emma replies reaching for jacket, tucking the picture in her pocket.

"Really?" Henry says, "Cause I'm still trying to figure it out." He was now obviously talking about his story book and who they were in Storybrooke.

Eirys wanders over to Emma, glancing at the boxes of her stuff. "Is this all you brought?" it was amazing that a person's life could be shrunken down to only a couple of boxes.

Emma nods. "Henry, what're you doing here?"

"My mom's gone, nine to five." Henry explains, shrugging his shoulders. "So I thought we could hang out."

"Sorry kid, I've got stuff to do." Emma says starting to head out.

"Oh, an adventure." Eirys says taking some of the sandwiches and putting them in her basket. "I'm coming too!" She waves to Mary Margaret and bounds out the door after Emma and Henry.

"She's desperate." Emma says crossing the street to her little pale yellow bug.

"How do you know?" Henry asks going to the passenger side of the car. "Oh, hey Eirys, what's with the basket?"

"Cause I know," Emma says glancing questioningly at the basket as well. "Please don't tell me you brought a picnic."

Eirys smiles. "Just sandwiches, so when are we leaving?"

"Oh no, no, no, no, there is no 'we'." Emma says walking to their side of her car. "You cannot come with me, and you." She points at Henry. "You definitely cannot come with me."

"Then we'll look for her ourselves." Henry says sticking up his nose.

"Then I'll find you and bring you back." Emma counters.

"But then we wouldn't be helping Ashley and her little baby." Eirys points out. "Come on, you two need to spend sometime together, mother and son."

Henry gets into the car; and Emma walks back to her side. "Oh that is really not fair."

"Here are cucumber and Swiss cheese sandwiches along with avocado and carrot sandwiches, whichever one you prefer." Eirys says placing the picnic basket on Henry's lap. "Have fun you two!"

_ "Well don't you look beautiful today?" Bae says looking at the extravagant emerald green dress with lots of shimmer and sparkles. "What's the special occasion?" _

_ Ivy practically jumps out of her skin at the sound of his voice. She had skipped their usual meeting and Bae was determined to find out why. "Bae don't scare me like that." She presses a hand to her heart. The dress wasn't as voluptuous as most ball gowns were, but it had nice princess-like v-shaped collar with lace and shimmery material creating sleeves. "Some of the other fairies are going to a party at a near by kingdom, it's a wedding."_

_ "A wedding you say." Bae says obviously making certain plans inside his head. He hops onto her kitchen table, selecting an apple to munch on. "Perhaps I shall go as well?"_

_ Ivy looks at his shabby clothing that he wore to keep up appearances. "Perhaps I will see you there." She transforms into her tiny self. "Well, I'm off to meet with Saphira, don't eat all my apples." She orders before flying through her window towards her friend's own little cottage. _

_ Saphira was still choosing a party dress to wear, her many dresses strewn everywhere. "Oh Ivy I don't know which dress to choose." She holds up two very similar dresses in front of her body, comparing them in her mirror. "Which one looks better on me?"_

_ To be completely honest, Ivy couldn't really tell the difference between the two dresses. Ivy randomly points to the one on the right. "I like that one."_

_ Saphira looks at it in the mirror seeming satisfied with Ivy's decision. "I always knew you had good ideas." She quickly undresses and slips the long dress on, fixing it around her chest area. "Come sit, I'll do your hair." She points to the small cushioned stool in front of her beauty mirror. _

_ Ivy tugs on a loose strand of hair. She retransforms back into her original height, looking at her hair in the mirror. "What's wrong with my hair?" she had stuck it up in a loose bun like she usually did for parties and such. _

_ "Don't worry I'm just going to fix it a bit." Saphira says pushing Ivy onto the seat, already pulling out the clips holding her hair in place. She tugs and pulls the poor fairy's hair until Ivy was sure that her head was going to be pulled off her neck. "There, perfect!"_

_ Ivy looks in the mirror, her hair was nice curled and pulled onto of her head. "Um, thanks?" she wasn't really sure the torture was worth the pretty updo. Saphira moves towards bowled make up. "What are you doing?"_

_ "Just close your eyes and everything is going to be ok." Saphira assures already mixing some powders with a brush. She taps some against Ivy's face, changing brushes to put more powder on Ivy's eyelids. "I'm going to add some color on your cheeks, you're always so pale."_

_ Saphira finally let her open her eyes. "Was this really necessary?" Ivy tries to brush some excess powder off her eyelid. "I feel really gross like this." _

_ "It's fine, don't worry about it." Ivy gets up to let Saphira do her own make up and hair. Ivy watches her friend quickly pull her hair up in the same style as Ivy's with practiced hands._

_ "Is your hair somehow darker?" Ivy asks noting that Saphira's usual blonde hair now had tints of brown in it that weren't usually there. At first she had thought it was the trick of the light but, even under the light, Saphira's hair looked dark. _

_ Saphira waves her hand dismissing the comment. "It's just your imagination." She says putting some gloss on her lips and adding some red tints to her tanned cheeks. "Besides, we have a party to get to." She steps into some blue shoes and they both transform. "Let's go!" _

"I don't know what you've heard but it's wrong." Ruby says talking to Emma and Henry outside of the diner. "Everyone thinks she can't do it, she's trying. Taking night classes, trying to better herself, I know Eirys is offering her a job at the flower shop so she can support the baby."

"Henry, Emma, hi!" Eirys says her usual delivery to the diner. "What's up, I thought you were looking for Ashley."

Ruby takes the box of flowers from Eirys to bring to her boss. "You could try her ex, he lives with his dad."

"Oh, Sean, I could take you there." Eirys says crossing the diner off her list of deliveries, "I mean, I'm free for now, and I'm trying to find the best way to get back at Mr. Gold, so leaving him with some flustered customers is always a plus for me."

After some misguided directions and yelling, Eirys finally managed to get Emma to the Hermann residence. "Hi, my name is Emma Swan, I'm looking for Ashley Boyd, she's in trouble."

"My son has nothing to do with that girl." Mr. Hermann says walking up the drive way.

Eirys looks at Mr. Hermann, just as stingy as she remembered him to be. "You're the reason the two of them broke up." The sad realization dawns on her. And of course she still blamed Mr. Gold but not to the same extreme extent as before.

"Of course," Mr. Hermann replies unashamed of what he was doing. "I'm not going to let my son throw away his life over some mistake."

"So you told him to just leave her?" Eirys demands staring the taller man down, the fact that parents were doing these things made her sick to her stomach.

"What were they suppose to do?" Mr. Hermann asks. "Raise the child from the backseat of their car?"

"Some people only have the backseat of their car." Emma adds clearly thinking of her own situation when she was pregnant with Henry ten years ago.

"Then they are to be pitied." Mr. Hermann says brushing past his son to get into his house. "That's not going to be my son."

Sean glances at his dad. "Dad, maybe we should help them look."

"It's a waste of time Sean." His dad replies, clearly not seeing how Eirys was very close to blowing a fuse and just marching into the house to smack some sense into the old man.

Emma steps closer to Sean trying to convince him one last time. "Sean, if you want to come, come, stop letting other people make decisions for you. If Ashley runs away with this baby, she's going to be in some serious trouble."

"Sean, inside, now." Sean stomps away angrily. Mr. Hermann blocking the entire door with his larger frame, "if I knew where she was I would tell you, believe me, it took a lot of trouble to get her that deal."

"Deal?" Emma asks. "What are you talking about?"

"The deal you made with Mr. Gold?" Eirys asks, "The one where she's forced to sell her baby because you don't think she can take care of it by herself?"

"I mean look at her." Mr. Hermann says. "She's a teenager, she's never shown any evidence of being responsible, and how could she possibly know how to be a mother?"

With that Eirys and Emma return to the car. "When I get my hands on him I'm going to make him regret ever making that stupid deal." Eirys mutters in the backseat as Emma drives through town.

"You can't make her double cross Mr. Gold." Henry says, "no one's ever broken a deal with him before."

"Happy to be the first." Emma replies speeding down the street. "If Ashley wants to have this baby she should have it. She should be allowed to be a mother."


	7. Sinkhole

"I see that these events haven't blackened your soul as it has mine." Eirys says gloomily, dispelling Mr. Gold's slightly joyful mood. It had been a while since they last had tea together, even though this wasn't their usual tea time.

Mr. Gold looks at the black tea set and the black tea sitting in it. "Ah, you're talking about Ashley Boyd and her baby." He takes a cautious sip of the tea, scowling at the bitter taste of it. "Why are we drinking tea right now?"

"Black tea and night matches my darkened soul, you baby-stealing pawn shop owner." She mumbles over her tea cup. She had attempted, and failed, at dressing in a depressed fashion with a long evergreen skirt and a brown gold long sleeved button up shirt with small embroideries along the hem.

Mr. Gold raises an eyebrow. The whole situation was obviously exaggerated by her delusional mind. "Well, I suppose I should say that I did not take her baby. I made a little deal with Miss. Swan."

Eirys just stares at him with a totally blank face. "Why did you not tell me sooner?" She demands angrily, she walks over to her little stove and picks up the metal kettle. "Maybe then I wouldn't have tried to kill you with overly steeped tea." She pours some hot water into Mr. Gold's tea cup to dilute the tea.

In that exact moment something made the ground shake like the earth decided to start rocking around. "Be careful." Mr. Gold warns, wrapping his arm around Eirys's small waist to prevent her from falling.

"Let's go see what happened!" She says excitedly after overcoming her initial shock. She rushes out the door with Mr. Gold's wrist gripped tightly in her hand. There were quite a few other people who had decided to do the same. "Isn't this exciting?" She pulls over along the side of the road, gathering with the other people who had come to see the event that caused the town to shake.

There was lots of mumbling about what this giant hole in the ground could be. "Look who finally got here." Eirys whispers as the mayor drives up in her expensive black car.

"People of Storybrooke, you have nothing to fear, we always knew that this place was honeycombed with old mines. But fear not, I'm going to undertake a project to make this area safe." Regina is obviously good at spontaneous speeches about bettering the community. This becoming one of the very few times people actually sided with her on anything. "We will level it, collapse it, bulldoze it, and pave it."

"Pave it?" Henry asks walking through the crowd. "What if there's something down there?"

"What do you think is down there?" Eirys asks turning to walk back up the small hill that led to the sinkhole.

Mr. Gold shrugs. "Who knows?"

Eirys watches curiously as Regina picks something that looked like a piece of glass off the ground and tucks it in her pocket. "You think that Regina knows what's down there, like some secret underground caves?"

Most of the crowd started to head back as the sheriff's office and the fire department start to tape off the sinkhole. "I believe I should be heading back soon." Mr. Gold says walking to Eirys's car. "I have to lock up my store."

"Take my car, and lock up for me." Eirys says tossing her key ring to Mr. Gold. She walks towards a familiar looking blonde in a red leather jacket. "Emma, did you take the deputy job?"

Emma pulls back her red jacket, revealing a small star shaped badge. "I'm the new deputy of Storybrooke."

"I can't say that Regina's going to be too happy about that." Eirys says leaning about the sheriff's car.

"Archie, Eirys." Henry hisses, hiding on the other side of the car. "We need all of Operation Cobra, all four of us."

"I didn't realize I was in Operation Cobra." Eirys and Archie say in unison.

"Of course you guys are." Henry explains glancing around the small circle they were in. "You know everything. We can't let her do this, what if there's something down there?"

"There're just some old tunnels." Emma says.

It was going to turn into another one of those types of arguments in which Henry tries to convince them that this had something to do with the curse from his fairy tale book. "You're changing things, you're weakening the curse."

"That's not what's happening."

"Yes it is." Henry replies. "Did you do anything different today? Something made this happen."

Emma unconsciously touches her deputy badge. "Henry I told you stay in the car." And the moment is ruined by the Evil Que—I mean, the mayor. She pushes Henry towards the car. "Deputy, do your job." The little circle disbands.

_"I did it, I finally did it!" Saphira says gleefully jumping around in circles, careful to not hit her furniture. "I can hardly wait." All fairy were slightly naïve, they thought that as long as they stayed in the Grounds nothing wrong could happen. When fairies pass through and remain for the night, they automatically let their guard down, doing things they otherwise wouldn't do, such as drinking excessive amount of alcohol and partying all night. _

_ Even Saphira, despite being on a mission, couldn't help but indulge in a little of the party, which led to her deep slumber throughout most of the day before she could retrieve a certain precious item from a certain guest._

_She watches the last bits of the sun dip below the distant mountains. Saphira walks to the door, blowing out the candles that lit her house. The Fairy Grounds were totally silent, everyone snoozing away in their beds, dreaming of all the good things to happen in the future. It was sickening. Saphira gently slips out of the barrier surrounding the Fairy Grounds, heading down the nearest road that went straight to a secret little meeting spot. _

_ "You're late." The Queen says when Saphira emerges into the clearing the Queen was without her usual guards and carriage, of course, it wasn't a long walk from her castle to her garden. "Now, do you have what I want?"_

_ Saphira pulls out a long thin glowing wand. "A Fairy Godmother's wand." It wasn't overtly special in any sense. Wands were made to enhance a fairy's natural magical abilities, to change lives and the future. Of course, in the wrong hands, the magic could easily be abused and used for evil. _

_ The Queen gently turns the shimmering wand in her hand, inspecting it for any possible flaws. "It's perfect, except for a little thing. It's been tainted." _

_ "What do you mean?" Saphira asks, her wish just out of her reach. "What about our deal?"_

_ The Queen smiles. "Don't worry." She walks forward, patting Saphira's pale cheek sharply. "I just need one more thing from you. You see, wands are quite fickle, they can sense the darkness dwelling in your heart which is why I can't use it. I need a source of good magic to balance it." _

_ "Where do I find a source of good magic?" Saphira demands totally frustrated with the idea of doing more laborious work. On any other day the Queen would've had her head for being so rude. _

_ "Where do you think?" The Queen asks, "You live with them all the time. Beings of the purest form of magic, the fairies, the only thing you have to do now, is bring me one."_

_ Saphira nods quickly, her dirty blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders. "I know the perfect one. And then you have to give me her eyes, remember?"_

_ "Of course." The Queen says tucking the wand in her sleeve. Saphira quickly scampers off back to the Fairy Grounds. "But don't think your happiness is going to last. Because in my world, there will only be my happiness." She disappears in a cloud of black smoke heading towards a little prison. She really did have to thank Snow White and her little friends for capturing Rumpelstiltskin, he was always so hard to find and get rid of. _

_ "Ah, my Queen, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Rumpelstiltskin asks from his magical cell. Of course, being in prison didn't damper is mockingly cheerful attitude, nor did it make him any less creepy._

_ The Queen holds up the wand, dangling it from her fingers. "I believe you know what this is, correct?" _

_ "A Fairy Godmother's wand." He replies easily after just one glance, having stolen one himself, which led to his ultimate capture and imprisonment. "What could you possible have use for such a thing, you know you can't use it."_

_ "What I want to know is, how did you manage to use it?" The Queen replies, tucking the wand up her sleeve. "How does a person with such a black soul use a wand?"_

_ "A little bit of love and goodness." He says mockingly. "Or perhaps," He says stick his face as far out of the cell has he possibly could. "I don't have a black soul like you?" He taps the Queen on the nose before bursting into his maniacal laugh. _

_ The Queen scowls. "Well, then I guess I'll just have to do things the hard way." She knew that he wouldn't give up his secrets for free, but that didn't mean she couldn't crush him like the insect he was. After all, this is what she actually came here to do. Hard way or not, she would eventually get what she wanted. _

"_I'm sure that little fairy friend of yours will be a great help to me. What was her name again? Oh right, Ivy." She walks away into her cloud of smoke, leaving Rumpelstiltskin with his empty threats alone. _

_ "Don't touch her, do you hear me!" He yells even though he knows that the Queen was no longer there and that he could do nothing to stop her from carrying out her evil plans. For the first time since he got there, he crumples to the ground in total despair. _

"I am the worse person in the whole world." Mary Margaret says making wonderful smores. "The absolute worst, most horrible, terrible person."

Eirys takes a smore, "Really, in the whole world?" she bites into it, letting the taste chocolate and melting marshmallow dance around on her tongue. Somehow, when Mary Margaret had invited her over to just hang out, Eirys didn't really expect to be counseling the lovestruck woman.

"It would be so much easier if Katherine weren't so nice all the time." Mary Margaret explains, talking around the smore in her mouth. "She's just so, nice."

Emma glances up at Mary Margaret from her seat at the table. "And what exactly would be easier?"

"She li—" Eirys starts before Mary Margaret shoves another smore into her mouth. "I mean, it's nothing."

"Nothing's a good idea." Emma says. "You're smart, you know not to get involved with a married guy, and it's not worth the heartache. Trust me."

Before Eirys or Mary Margaret could ask Emma about her last statement, someone knocks on the door, Emma excusing herself to get it.

"Kid what happened?" Emma asks as the door reveals a sniffling crying Henry.

"I'll get some more marshmallows." Eirys says going through Mary Margaret's cabinets for the last ingredient they needed in order to make more delicious comforting smores. "Mary, you're out of marshmallows, I'm going out to buy some more."

And when she said that, she actually meant that she was going to go back home and crack open her own stash of marshmallows. Just because she drank tea everyday with Mr. Gold did not mean she liked to drink tea all the time, sometimes its nice to have some cocoa or highly sweetened and creamed coffee.

"I got the marshmallows." Eirys says running into Mary Margaret's apartment with a bag of large marshmallows. Henry, apparently, had recovered enough to drink some nice marshmallow-less cocoa with whip cream and cinnamon on it. "I see you were having a party without me."

Mary Margaret and Emma work on making the sandwiches, letting the boy eat as many as he wanted before spewing out the entire story of how cruel Dr. Hopper had been to him. "Here you go, Henry." Eirys says packing up the last of the extra smores in a small Tupperware container. "And make sure to hide this from your mom, ok?"

"This had better not before a regular thing." Mr. Gold warns, settling into his usual chair. "I'm not a huge fan of drinking tea in the evening."

Eirys waves her hand, banishing his comment. "It's hardly evening yet, there's still sun out. "Think of it as an afternoon snack if you will." She had chosen a chocolate Chai tea to go with some more smores. "I'm in a good mood right now, so don't ruin things for me."

Mr. Gold shrugs, embracing the moment to enjoy some nice crispy smores. That is until a small quake caused tea to be spilled and smores to bounce off the table. "These things seem to be quite common these days."

"I wonder what's going on down there." Eirys says taking another sip of her tea. "Perhaps we could go check it out?"

Mr. Gold shakes his head. "It's too dangerous, besides, I hardly doubt we can do anything but be in their way. I'm sure everything is perfectly fine." Of course, the next time he decides to take a sip, the earth just happens to shake causing the hot liquid to go down the wrong part of his throat and cause a major coughing fit.

"What were you saying about things being perfectly fine?" Eirys asks, stifling her laughter behind her hand, her other one offering a more tea to Mr. Gold. Luckily for both of them, neither of them was drinking anything when the third tremor hit them. "What is going on over there?"

Mr. Gold sighs. "If it's going to bother you so much, we can head over there." He says, helping the fidgeting girl clear away their drink before taking her car towards the mine site. "It seems that there's already quite the crowd out here."

"What's going on, Ruby? I thought they were clearing this to be some sort of park." Eirys says glancing at the sullen faces of the workers. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, Henry and Dr. Hopper got stuck down there." Ruby explains gesturing towards Dr. Hopper's dog, Pongo, who was currently without his owner and sitting in the fire truck. "They were trying to blast through the rubble, but it doesn't seem to be working."

"Pongo," Eirys says getting a light bulb moment. "Pongo can help." She steps up to open the door, Pongo racing out of the car. "Pongo probably found something." Marco and Graham hurry to uncover what was under the earth.

"What is that?" Emma asks, holding Pongo away from all of the commotion.

"It's an airshaft." Graham explains recognizing the criss-crossing pattern of the metal covering. They use a crane to lift the covering of the airshaft leaving a large square shaped hole in the ground.

Everyone seems to just start at the hole. "So, anyone got any ideas on what to do next?" Eirys asks.

"We need to lower somebody down there." Marco says, working on a way to hook the crane to said person.

"I've got a harness." Graham says walking back to the sheriff's car to get it. Why he had a harness in the car with him was a mystery.

"Lower me down." Regina says.

"No way." Emma says immediately countering the idea.

"He's my son."

"He's my son too." Emma says. "You've been sitting behind a desk for ten years, you can't do this."

For the first time since, possible since the beginning of time, Regina looked as if she was going to burst into tears. She steps close to Emma, "just bring him to me."

Of course, the five or ten minutes Emma was down there was the most silent and tense five or ten minutes ever. "They're coming up." Eirys says jumping beside Mr. Gold, who looked indifferent about the entire situation. He didn't even attempt to clap when Emma heroically climbs out of the airshaft with Henry and Archie.

There is a sort of party at the old mine site, enjoying the day of life-changing events. "I see you brought sandwiches." Emma says staring at the basket full of sandwiches off all types: peanutbutter and jelly, banana and honey, cucumber, cucumber and tuna, cucumber and cheese, and the list goes on. "What's the occasion?"

"I thought that since you saved Henry and Archie was occasion enough." Eirys says scooping up her skirt to sit down next to Emma and Henry. "You might want to choose your favorites, Mr. Gold's coming later and he'll probably eat them all."

Marco and Archie come over to enjoy the less eccentric sandwiches. "Hey listen." Henry says, all around them is the tweeting sound of crickets. "They're back. See, things are changing."

Later in the evening, someone brought out the alcohol. And the real party started.

"Are you hung over?" Mr. Gold asks seriously clearly thinking that the highly dazed look on Eirys's face meant that she was hung over.

Eirys shoos him in. "No, I'm not hung over, just really tired." She stifles a yawn by pouring some bright smelling grapefruit flavored tea. "I was Ruby's designated driver."

"Well, perhaps you should close the shop for the day." Mr. Gold suggests helping himself to some freshly cut apples in place of her usual baked goods. "I'm sure your customers are used to your spontaneous holidays."

Eirys yawns again. "I can't, Ashley's coming in for some training. And Alexandra has to come to. Oh, and I have to make a nice center piece for the Nolan's party."

"I heard they invited the whole town." Mr. Gold says remember seeing Katherine go around her neighborhood inviting everyone to her party. She also sent out invitations to other important figures of the town such as the mayor and the sheriff, even Mr. Gold got one. "I suppose you're going then."

Eirys shrugs. "I don't really know either of them. I only got invited because I helped find her husband. And she's commissioning work so I guess its common curtsey."

The bell above the door twinkles. "Miss. Eirys are you here?" The youthful voice of Ashley Boyd floats through the open backroom door. "Miss. Eirys?"

"I'm in the backroom, Ashley." Eirys calls, massaging her temples. "Please come in, come in." She ushers the new mother into the room, letting Ashley have her seat. "Would you like some tea?"

"Oh no, I already ate." Ashley replies shifting uncomfortably at the sight of Mr. Gold, obviously recent events still fresh in her mind. "I hope you don't mind my earliness. I just couldn't wait."

Eirys cuts up some more fresh apples. "I see that Alexandra isn't here, is that ok?"

"She's with Sean, I didn't want her to disrupt your teaching so early in the morning." Ashley replies nibbling on a wedge of apple. "But I do have to, you know, feed her later." The idea of breast feeding was slightly inappropriate for a male to hear.

"Well, I suppose I'll be taking my leave." Mr. Gold says abruptly standing up. "Have a nice day." He nods slightly towards Ashley before walking towards the door.

Ashley lets out a sigh of relief when the door closes behind Mr. Gold. "I don't understand how you can hang around him. He's just so, frightening." There wasn't just one word to describe Mr. Gold, but frightening was a good one.

"You can bring Alexandra over next time, she can sleep in here." Eirys says quickly washing up her tea set. She locks the little china cabinet that held all of her tea sets and picks up an extra apron. "Shall we?"

_"I hear King George's son, Prince James, is going to marry that daughter of King Midas." Ivy says, weddings, especially large ones between royal families were really big in the fairy world. Mostly the young fairies like to sneak in and mingle around with the humans for a day. "You want to go?"_

_ Bae sighs resting his head against his usual tree. "It isn't official yet, you known the fickle young girl, so many requirements, with so few men to fill them." _

_ "Bae, where do you go when you leave the Grounds?" Ivy asks, the question plaguing her mind ever since she saw him sneak out of the forest through a different path from hers. There were, after all, many ways out of the Grounds all of which led to some sort of village or castle. _

_ Bae glances at her, debating whether or not to actually tell the truth. "I have a little place that needs maintaining, but it's so old and worn. I prefer to stay here. And sometimes I need a change of attire; there are only so many patches one can make on his trousers before they simply must go." _

_ Of course, she didn't have to know that the little place he had was actually quite the grand small castle, and that he just stole some poor person's clothing to keep up the image he had created for himself. Though, it was a wonder how she could be so clueless about his true identity, really, such a wonder. _

_ "Perhaps I can go with you next time." Eirys says simply itching to get out of the Grounds. As an earth fairy she didn't get as many jobs as other fairies that are called out for blessing fishing ships for good sailing or to clear away droughts. "I could help tidy it up with you."_

_ His castle did need a nice cleaning and the weeds were killing off his fine garden. "Very well, I think I could arrange a small trip for you." He replies finalizing his plans in his head. _

_ Ivy nods, the lack of work was making her restless and with Saphira constantly being called away was really getting her down. "It's been so long since I've been outside, I wonder if anything's changed recently. There's not much going on around here, except that many Fairy Godmothers are in trouble."_

_ "Oh, how so?" Bae asks always looking for some juicy information that he could sell for a price. _

_ "The usual problems mostly, though they don't know who to choose to replace the fallen Fairy Godmother, you remember her, right?" Ivy says going off to talk about some sort of test and how Saphira might become the youngest Fairy Godmother in the history of Fairy Godmothers. "Have you noticed a change in her?"_

_ Bae pops an eye open. "That blonde friend of yours? I can't say I recall anything different about her." There were some delicate secrets about that blonde wish granting fairy, secrets that Bae wanted to dissect out of her. "Perhaps she's simply having some womanly problems. Some fairies can be quite the dramatic ones, especially that little friend of yours." He returns to his sleeping position, ignoring the scowling look on the young fairy's face._

_ "She's not overly dramatic." Ivy says finding the sudden need to defend her closest friend. "She's just very, and overtly, girly at times. But she is a good person and my best friend, we tell each other everything."_

_ Bae opens his eyes, curiosity biting into his skin. "Everything?"_

_ "Everything." Ivy replies defiantly. "There are no secrets between us, well maybe we don't tell each other when we like the other's older brother because then she'll just tease the other mercilessly. But besides that, not a single secret." _

_ "Of course." Bae replies smirking. Knowing that deep beneath that innocent look, Saphira was hiding a very, very dark secret that she wouldn't even tell her friend, and somethings just should not be spoken about. "Now, if you'll please. I need my rest." _

_ Ivy gathers up her stuff, leaving a nicely wrapped sandwich for Bae to eat later. "If they do get married, we should go. You shouldn't be living off of the food I give you."_

_ It took mere seconds for Bae to fully understand the meaning of her words. A wedding would mean a nice grand feast with large amounts of poultry, jams, vegetation, and drinks. The idea of a feast made his stomach growl. Yes, that wedding was going to happen, and he was going to go and eat at that feast._


	8. Children and the Election

_"Let me out of here," Ivy screeches pulling and shoving against the makeshift cage the huntsmen had put her tiny fairy form in. Despite being nothing but cold-hearted killers by trade, they were very crafty. And she had been far too easy of a target. _

_ She had been too giddy and happy being called out for her first job in weeks. She merely had to cut through a small forest and help a small trading village with their gardens. Easy work, but no, she had to go and help the forest look a little greener and let her guard down. _

_ "We can probably get a good price for her." One of the two huntsmen says flicking her cage over with a shove of his finger. "She's also quite the looker." His beady little eyes inspect her over all appearance, which was quite hard to do due to her miniature size. "I wouldn't mind having her."_

_ Ivy wanted to rip that smirk right off his face. She quietly plotted her escape while sitting in her cage, dozing off to the gentle rocking of the horse her cage was attached to. The sudden stop jolts her from her sleep. They had reached a tavern, how joyful. _

_ The tavern is busy, the smell of drinking, sweat, and smoke assault Ivy's sense of smell when the huntsmen walk in. The huntsmen walk straight up to the bar, making sure that everyone had a good view of Ivy. _

_ "Know of anyone willing to pay for a fairy?" the huntsman with the beard asks, setting the cage down on the table. No one speaks up, dealing in information is always risky business due to the high risks that came with it. _

_ However, the rest of the tavern seems to silence when a new stranger walks in. Next to him is a snow white wolf with mismatched colored eyes. They take a seat at an empty table, a tavern girl bringing the huntsman a drink. _

_ "What, they're letting animals in here now?" The bearded huntsman asks watching the stranger feed something to his wolf companion. "This isn't a slaughter house."_

_ "Forget him, he might as well be one too." Ivy falls over as the bearded man's partner, a man with a boat shaped hat on, grabs a hold of her cage. "I heard he was raised by them."_

_ "He sure smells like one." The bearded man says. "Pathetic."_

_ "I heard he cries over his kills."_

_ Ivy kicks the hand wrapped around her cage. "Stop being so mean all the time you smelly old man."_

_ "You shut your mouth." The bearded man says, walking over to the stranger. His partner picks up the cage, making sure that Ivy wasn't panning anything suspicious. "Tell me huntsman, what kind of man cries over an animal?"_

_ "An honorable one." The stranger replies, he had some sort of accent that wasn't native to the area they were in. _

_ "What do you know of heart?"_

_ "I have it, they have it," he indicates to his wolf friend. "She has it." He points to Ivy sitting woefully in her little cage. "You don't."_

_ The bearded huntsman scoffs. "They have it?"_

_ "They are pure of heart." The stranger says in almost a mocking tone that one would use towards a child who needed to be taught a lesson. "Not selfish, self-serving, like people."_

_ The wolf growls at the bearded huntsman. "You tell your pet to stop threatening me. Do you know what I do to meets, I hang them on my wall." It would seem that he was going to initiate an altercation by pulling out his sword. Only the stranger was faster, sticking his dagger quickly in the bearded man's neck. _

_ After a few second of initial shock, the man with the oddly shaped hat dropped the cage in his hand and goes in to take revenge. Only to have his head smashed into a mirror hanging on the wall. None of the other customers move, the wolf picks up the cage as they both leave the tavern. "Hey, can you let me out now?"_

_ The huntsman easily pulls apart the cage. "Are you alright?" _

_ Ivy lets her green insect like wings spring out of her back. "Perfect fine." She assures fluttering in the air. The huntsman and his friend start to head away from the tavern. "Perhaps, I could do something for you, in return." Ivy says fly up next to them. _

_ "Some food would be nice." The huntsman admits, absently rubbing the wolf's head. "And something for my friend here as well."_

_ Ivy grins at the simple request. She flies a tad bit ahead of them, finding a nice little seedling popping out of the soil. Ivy flies around it feeding it magic to create a nice healthy apple tree. "Apple?" She plucks one from the tree, holding it for the huntsman to take. _

_ It would appear that neither of them really had the luxury to eat fresh juicy apples as the two of them easy clear off half the apples from the tree. "You're not going to eat any?" He asks the little fairy who is easily sitting on an apple, watching them with a smile on her tiny face. _

_ "Not hungry, I suppose." She says shrieking slightly when the wolf noses her off the apple to take the apple for himself. "I see that food is a slight problem for the two of you." She rubs the wolf's wet nose. _

_ "It's not only us." The huntsman explains as they had set off on their journey once again. "It's the poachers; they kill off the wolves for their pelts, scaring the other animals so they don't come out for a hunt."_

_ A small deer runs past them, the signs of malnutrition in its body. "But there's plenty of berries and greens around for the animals to eat." Ivy says, the entire situation clearly out of her grasp. _

_ "True, but the villagers need to eat as well; they come into the forest and take the animal's food. Then the animals go hungry and the wolves go hungry as well." The huntsman explains feeding another apple to the wolf. "There isn't enough food to go around so one party must give."_

_ "Here." Ivy plugs a small reed out of the ground, poking holes into it. "If you ever need help with food or anything, uses this whistle and I will come find you. If you get in trouble, I'll come and feed the wolves and the other animals of the forest." The huntsman takes the small reed whistle. _

_ "Why are you doing this?" he asks tuck the whistle in one of his pouches. _

_ Ivy shrugs. "Because it's my job to care about the forest and its inhabitants, it's very important to me." She tosses up some bursts of magic, letting them land around the forest group or high in the tree leaves. "I have to help the villagers but, maybe this will be enough to help you survive until we meet again." She does a mock bow before zooming off towards the exit. _

"Guess who I ran into in the forest during the wee hours of the morning?" Mr. Gold asks after coming back from his little pruning of the forest weeds.

Eirys takes a hearty bite out of the carrot cake Mr. Gold had bought on his way back. "Who?"

"The sheriff," Mr. Gold replies taking a swig of his own tea, fondly remembering the time he sold the apple tea set to his next door shop owner. "He claims to be looking for a wolf."

Eirys's eyebrows come together in a look of confusion. "A wolf? Here in Storybrooke? I've never heard of such a thing. But I suppose there could be some roaming around the forest."

"It certainly is strange." Mr. Gold agrees. "He says that he saw it in a dream, and then saw it in real life, a strange coincidence, don't you think?" he plucks a nice piece of carrot cake out of the box in front of him.

"I hope he's ok." Eirys says obviously starting to worry a little. "It's not healthy to be running around in the forest when you don't know the difference between dreams and reality. Perhaps he had too much to drink last night?"

Mr. Gold merely shrugs. "Perhaps, one can never know for sure."

"I sure hope he's ok." Eirys says taking a nervous sip of her tea. "Maybe we should take him to the hospital and have them see if there's something wrong with him. This could be serious."

Now she's just blowing things out of proportion. "I hardly think so; he just had a dream and woke up with a hang over, nothing to worry about." Mr. Gold reassures her. "Did you know that people used to think that dreams were memories from a past life?"

"I did not know that." Eirys says thinking of her latest dreams. "What do you think it means when you dream about apple trees and meadows in a forest with a little river nearby?"

"Maybe you had a lot of picnics in your past life." Mr. Gold replies leaning back in the chair, letting the metal back hit his aching muscles which were sore from not being used. "Or because you are thinking of baking an apple pie to eat tomorrow morning."

She tosses a napkin at him. "That's what you want me to do."

The grandfather clock dings, signaling the end of their time and that Ashley, the new temporary worker would be arriving soon. "I really must be going then." Mr. Gold says, quickly excusing himself. The last time he didn't, he was stuck babysitting a crying child in the backroom for much of the morning.

"And remember to offer each customer with a freebie before they leave." Eirys says pointing out the little freebie corner. "So, I guess I'll leave you to work the cashier while I do some work out front, call if you need anything."

Ashley nods, sitting down on the chair behind the counter. She always had a different 'how to be a mom' type book with her. Eirys pulls up the dead flowers that were sitting in the pots next to the door. "Um, Eirys, can I talk to you?"

Eirys glances up over her shoulder. "Graham, is something the matter? You look terrible." He looked as if he had gotten no sleep during the night and the fact that it seemed like he was running a fever didn't help. "Do you want to go inside?"

"No, I was wondering if it's possible that we met in a past life." He asks, sitting on the steps to the store. "One with Mary Margaret in it."

Eirys glances at him strangely. "Not that I can recall." His face falls, obviously expecting a different answer. "But it would seem like I'm having certain problems recalling when I've done certain things during my childhood or when I've met someone. I'm sure you'll figure it lot."

Graham nods, "I suppose I should let you get back to work right now." He says getting ready to go. "You wouldn't know where Henry is right now, would you?"

"Henry? I suppose he's either with Emma or at home." Eirys says finding the train of the conversation starting to derail and head off in a different direction. "Did something happen to the mayor?"

"No, everything is fine." Graham replies getting into his sheriff's car. "Thank you for your help." And he pulls out of the parking lot, heading down the street. Eirys guessed that he was going to the mayor's house.

Eirys shrugs glancing back at her work, which had been neglected for while sometime as she never found the motivation to actually do the work. "How strange."

It came as a great surprise when the sheriff suddenly died of a heart attack that very night. "Why are you here, Eirys?" Mr. Gold asks not looking up from his work in waterproofing some antique book.

"I'm on a self proclaimed holiday, and Ashley needs a break once in a while so I sent her home to spend some more time with Alexandra and Sean." Eirys explains sitting at his front counter, leaving the curtain between the two rooms up as to let the air circulate. "You should take a break too; you've been working since you got back here."

Mr. Gold was saved by the bell signaling a customer. "Oh, hey, Eirys, I'm looking for Mr. Gold, is he here?"

Eirys could hear him mumbling something under his breathe in the backroom. She jerks her thumb towards the room, a gleeful smile on her face. "He's waiting for you."

Emma takes one step into room and automatically tries to escape; the smell of the waterproofing chemical is overwhelming. "What is that stuff? It smells like livestock."

They bring their conversation outside into fresh air. Mr. Gold pulls a box from under the counter with all of Graham's personal items in it. "I was wondering if you would like a small token." As it turns out Graham didn't really have anything interesting, most of it would head to the trash if no one claimed them.

"Oh, how about these?" Eirys asks spying a pair of walkie talkies that she often saw Graham using when he cruised around the town. "You can play with Henry with these."

Emma reluctantly takes them. "The time you have with your boy is precious. The thing about kids is that they grow up so fast, and before you know it, they leave." Mr. Gold's words of wisdom seem to convince her to take the walkie talkies.

_Ivy couldn't contain her laughter any longer, her loud laugh ringing above the childish giggles of the orphans around her. And as usual, it was all at the expense of her "most trusted assistant". "Come on Bae you look marvelous!" _

_Bae tosses the blonde wig on the ground and moves the remove the shabby costume he was forced to wear. They had somehow been dragged into producing a little show of the orphans of the village. Orphans from the Orc Wars. "I refuse to play this role any longer."_

"_Ok kids, how about we stop for some lunch now." Ivy suggests feeling the slightest bit sorry for Bae as he was mercilessly bossed by the small miniature humans. The children all run towards the kitchen, hoping to get something warm before the older kids got there. "You're surprising good spirited about all of this." She gestures to her own little costume, which was a simple blue dress with a tattered hem._

_Bae shrugs finding some nicely wrapped sandwiches in his traveling bag. It wasn't often that Ivy needed to buy stuff from a human village; most of the items that she required to live off of could be made within the Fairy Grounds. However, some items just couldn't be made with magic and must be traded for. "Don't you have some things to buy while we're here?"_

"_The lady running this orphanage is purchasing them for me." Ivy explains finishing off her sandwich. "She said that she knows a really good place to get fresh spices."_

"_I don't trust her," Bae says suddenly. "She seemed a bit too excited about buying these spices for you."_

_Ivy taps her chin, she wasn't like Bae in the sense that she didn't watch people to see what their deep dark secrets were, she couldn't read people like he could. And by being a fairy, she automatically thought about the good in people and the thought of suspecting some bad to happen was always far from her mind. "I guess her ring was a bit fishy. I would think a place so short on money wouldn't be able to afford nice gems."_

"_Nice gems you say." Bae glances over at the small castle like structure just outside the village's boundaries. "The lady has been gone for quite a while, hasn't she?"_

_Ivy glances over at the castle. The ring on the lady's finger could have easily come from the castle's treasury. "You don't think she's stealing from those people, do you?"_

"_Let's go see." Bae says getting up, brushing the crumbs from his trousers. "Watch the children will you." The old cook nods her head, waving them off with the rest of the orphans. _

_Ivy glances around them, feeling guilty about what they were about to do. "Are you sure we should be doing this, I mean what if someone sees us?" She fixes her eyes on any sign of movement from the back kitchen door. _

_There were essentially two easy ways to get into the castle. One would be to walk straight through the front door. And the second was through the kitchen door where servants usually bustled through and where deliveries were made. Bae knocks his knuckles against her head, warning her to keep her mouth shut. _

_They silent crouch behind some bushes, waiting for any signs of people coming out of the door. And just when Ivy thought that they were doing something foolish, the door creaks open. _

"_Glad to do business with you as usual." A toothless smuggling servant says, handing the orphanage lady a cloth sac in exchange for a pouch of rattling coins. "Come again soon, my master won't be back for a while. He won't notice a thing."_

_Ivy looks to Bae for direction. "Wait here, and don't do anything stupid like running off and screaming, alright?" he doesn't wait for her response before stepping out of the bushes. _

"_Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He briskly makes his way up to the lady, plucking the sac out of her hands. "I see someone's been a naughty little girl." He spills the contents of the sac onto the ground._

"_I paid for those you know." She replies angrily, her pride not letting her stoop down and picking up her items. "And these people won't be using this stuff; it'll just sit on shelves rotting away. Many people will be better off with this stuff."_

"_And what about this little ring on your finger?" He magically pulls it out of his pocket. "Very nice, wonderfully crafted and ingeniously put together. I suppose you found it which you were clearing out your closet?" he glances at the glare of the toothless servant. "Or perhaps, you saw and decided to keep it for yourself. There's not harm in treating yourself to a little luxury once in a while, right, dearie?"_

_The lady snatches the ring back. "You have no idea what I go through everyday with those noisy little brats. All the yelling and screaming, there's always something to do for them."_

"_And you think that letting them stave in that run down little shack is going to help them?" Bae asks dropping his usual mocking voice. "Or perhaps, you like smacking around little children who can't defend themselves?"_

"_How dare you?" She reaches up to try and slap Bae. And as quickly as she does that, he blocks her hand faster still. "Unhand me you fowl fiend."_

"_Or what?" he asks leaning close to her face. "Because I'm not a two foot tall five year old crying at your feet, I can easily destroy you. And you, you better disappear from my sight right now." He says to the servant who quickly shuts the kitchen door. "Now I'm going to let you go."_

_The lady just blinks at him and Ivy shoves her hand into her mouth to keep herself from screaming some sort of profanity at him. "You're just going to let me go, just like that."_

_Bae wags his finger in her face. "On two conditions, one you leave the orphanage and return all the jewelry and money you took from this place and two you dedicate the rest of your life to serving this castle and its inhabitants as a nanny."_

"_Fine," The lady rips her hand out of Bae's grip, tossing the ring at his face. She picks up the items and stalks away towards the orphanage. _

_Ivy steps out of the bushes once the lady is out of sight. "That was very unexpected."_

"_Those children need good parents to tell them what is right and what is wrong." Bae explains. "And she will spend the rest of her days making it up to those children she has wronged."_

_Ivy pats him on the shoulder. "For someone who cares very little about the world around you, you have a very big heart. I'm sure the children are going to enjoy the rest of the show."_

_It wasn't very surprising to see tearful eyes of the orphans when they returned. And of course, their eyes dried up easily when Bae offered to get back into his outrageous outfit to finish the show. _

"_Now, you wouldn't be planning on stealing more from this place, now would you?" Bae asks watching the shadowy figure tiptoe across the room towards the room of treasures. _

_The figure jumps backwards, falling over a nearby vase and toppling a suit of armor over. Bae claps his hands causing the lights in the room to come alive. "What are you doing here?" the orphanage lady demands, a large basket with her personal items sitting nicely on the floor next to her. _

"_Why, I just so happen to live here." Bae explains, he had changed out of his usual torn clothes and into more suitable attire for a castle owner. "I think the question now is, what are you doing here?"_

_He ignores any argument the lady tried to make. "I gave you a chance to live a redeemable life, but I suppose I was too soft on a person like yourself. You see, children, are quite precious, and I can't have you corrupting them with your lifestyle. So I've decided to donate this castle and all of its contents to the orphanage, and when those little kids come running through here, they'll glance at this wall and wonder why this woman looks like their former guardian."_

_The lady glances at the blank wall. "What are you talking about? There's nothing here."_

"_Not yet anyways." Bae says, and with a flick of his hand, a sparkling purple smog wraps around the poor woman, changing her physically and planting her straight into the wall as a beautiful painting. "Now you can listen to the shouts and screams of children till the day you die."_

"Tell me again, why am I driving you to Mary Margaret's place?" Eirys asks pulling up next to Mary Margaret's building. "I mean, I never thought that you would be requesting to visit Mary Margaret."

"Well, let's just say that I have some business with a certain roommate of hers." Mr. Gold replies stepping out of the passenger side of the car, a large white binder tucked under his arm. Eirys sighs following behind him, closing the passenger side door on her way up to Mary Margaret's room. "Good evening Miss. Swan, sorry for the intrusion, but there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Mary Margaret, I've brought cheese and crackers!" Eirys says figuring that Mr. Gold only made her come with him in order to distract Mary Margaret. The two of them wander towards Mary Margaret's room. "So, what did Emma do to the toaster?"

"Regina fired her." Mary Margaret explains making messy cheese and cracker sandwiches. "What do you think they're talking about?" She tries to eavesdrop on their conversation; unfortunately, they were probably sitting at the table which is across the room from Mary's own room.

Eirys licks the goat cheese off her fingers. "Mr. Gold brought the town charter, maybe they're going to plan an overthrowing of Regina's mayor status. Or I suppose he's trying to help Emma keep her job."

"He's been doing a lot of nice things these days." Mary Margaret admits going back to her bed to eat more cheese and crackers. "Do you think he likes her, Emma that is?"

Eirys shrugs, the thought of Mr. Gold actually liking some like that was a strange concept for her brain to wrap itself around. Not to mention that it did something strange to her chest. "It's possible, but one can never know what Mr. Gold is thinking, he's like an enigma."

Mary Margaret laughs, almost choking on her sandwich. Their little banter goes on until Mr. Gold interrupts them by poking his head through the door. "Ready to go?"

Eirys gives a small hug to her friends before leaving them. "I suppose you and Emma are now up to something that won't please Regina at all."

Mr. Gold gives her a lopsided grin. "Of course."

And Regina was not pleased at all. Ashley and Eirys were carefully peeking out of the window the through the blinds when Regina's car parked in Mr. Gold's parking lot. "What do you think she's doing in there?" Ashley asks she gently rocks Alexandra to sleep, signs of exhaustion written all over her face.

"Probably venting her anger out on him." Eirys whispers, unsure why they were even watching the pawn shop as there was no way to tell what was actually going on inside the tiny little store. "I wouldn't want to be his shoes right now."

"I sure hope she doesn't come here." Ashley says finally putting Alexandra to sleep, "she's absolutely frightening."

"Well she's certainly fuming right now." Eriys says when Regina finally comes out of the store. There is literally steam coming out of her ears. "This is not going to be good."

Despite being quite the distance from the mayor's office the little flower felt a small tremor when the mini-explosion took place. "What do you think that was?" Ashley asks once the ground was steady again.

"I don't know, but why don't you go home early today." Eirys says untying her apron. "You can also come in late tomorrow; I'm sure everyone's going to be talking about this and the whole sheriff election."

Ashley smiles, quickly getting ready to leave for the day, and Eirys skips over to Mr. Gold's shop. "Mr. Gold, do you want to go see what happened?"

"No thank you." His voice replies from the back room. "I'm in the middle of something at the moment; you can tell me all about it tomorrow over tea."

Eirys manages to get to the scene of the explosion just as Mary Margaret, Archie, and many others get there including the fire department and Sidney with his camera, taking pictures for the next morning's newspaper. "What happened here?"

"Emma saved Regina from the fire." Mary Margaret explains, their little friend group crowding around a slightly charred looking Emma.

Eirys pats Emma on the back. "You're a hero, oh, we should see if they have a picture of the rescue and make campaign posters for her."

Ruby and her grandma nod. "That's a great idea." And with that Archie and Grandma go off to write posters while Ruby and Mary Margaret gather pictures. "Oh and I can put them up all over town." Eirys adds helping Archie with the posters. "Where did Emma go?"

Somehow, through the haze of the fire, Emma managed to sneak off. "Probably resting from all the action." Archie suggests already writing stuff down. "Right now, she needs all the support we can give her."

"Mary Margaret, these posters don't look right." Eirys says staring at the stapled posters on the bulletin board outside of the city hall. Mary Margaret had a very interesting way of stapling the posters to the board. "I don't think you should staple it through the middle." And of course the school teacher wasn't even listening.

It is the day of the long awaited debate and vote for sheriff. Everyone was busy with the debate preparations, last minute campaigning, and of course, many were still talking about the fire. "Hey, Eirys do you have any more posters?"

Eirys could see David Nolan stapling posters of Sidney next to Emma's campaign posters. "You have to get over him sooner rather than later you know." She places some more glossy posters in Mary Margaret's hands.

"Thanks," she goes to a bulletin away from David's stapling. It felt like the calm before a major storm, all the townsfolk were on edge about the debate. As far as anyone could remember, this would be the first recent debate for the position of sheriff.

"Well aren't you in the cheery mood." Mr. Gold says walking up the white steps to the City hall, the debate is just about the start and most of the seats were already taken. "I thought you would be the first person here."

"I was I even saved us some seats." Eirys replies leading him to a pair of seats in the second to last row on Emma's side of the room. "Now sit down, the debate is about to begin." Archie made a very bad attempt at easing the tense mood of the room with very lame jokes which Eirys would admit, were slightly funny.

"And when Mr. Gold said that he would support me in this race, I didn't know that he was going to set a fire." In one single statement, Eirys's face practically crumbled. She didn't have the courage to look at her friend sitting in the seat next to her nor did she really hear the rest of Emma's speech. What she did hear were the fading footsteps of Mr. Gold and his clanking cane walking away from the debate.

If it weren't for Mary Margaret and the fact that Emma is still her good friend Eirys would have driven her car like a mad woman to find Mr. Gold and give him a good piece of her mind. "Are you hung over?" So the fact that this is the first thing that comes out of Mr. Gold's mouth the next morning was very disturbing.

"You set a fire just to help Emma win? There are easier ways to support a candidate no matter how much you might hate Regina." Eirys says knowing that the only reason Mr. Gold would support Emma was to go against Regina, whom he was often bantering with. "And you could've told me so I didn't need to drink my life away."

She rubs her face, the after election party was intense and she had let herself go completely. "You would have told everyone and that would not get Emma elected. People seem to like a sheriff who can go up against me, and I don't mind playing the bad guy part."

"You should care more about what other people think of you." Eirys says trying to ingest as much sugar as humanly possible. "Even if you don't, I care about what people think about you so keep that in mind the next time you do something completely stupid."


	9. Zimmer and Toleman

_"Papa, why do we have to come so far into the forest to find trees?" the little blonde girl asks as her father goes through a strange looking ritual to find the perfect tree to chop down. "Why can we not use the ones closer to home?"_

_ "Because, Gretel, we aren't allowed to. You see, when your Papa was young he met a magical fairy while he was chopping wood in the forest." The father says tapping his hand against another tree trunk, smiling as he found the perfect tree to chop down. "And she got really angry when I chopped down a tree. She said that she could feel the pain of the trees that I chopped down, but we need fire to keep ourselves warm, right?"_

_ "Right."_

_ "Well, she taught how to tell different trees apart, now we all get what we want." He finishes, swinging his axe against the tree trunk. _

Tripping over a bag of dried flower leaves is very embarrassing, tripping over said bag and yelling profanities in your empty store is just the slightest bit less embarrassing. "Hello, this is The Green Fairy, Eirys speaking." Eirys says yanking the phone off its hook.

"Hey, Eirys, this is Mary Margaret." The usually happy-go-lucky school teacher's voice had an odd flavor of nervousness mixed with worry. "I was wondering if you could make some food and bring it over, you know, for a little chat."

Eirys glances up at the clock, the late afternoon meant that there wouldn't be too many customers. "Yeah, I'll be there in thirty minutes, any reason why you suddenly want me to come over with food?"

"No reason," she says it a little too hastily. "Well, Emma said she wants to talk with us, so I thought that we could make something for us to eat? And I guess I'll see you in thirty minutes then." She clicks off before Eirys could interrogate her any longer.

Eirys stares suspiciously at the phone trying to guess what Mary Margaret was plotting. She quickly punches the number to a familiar sullen man next door. "Hey there Mr. Gold, it's Eirys."

There is complete silence on the other end. "What do you want?"

"How rude." Eirys frowns, the conversation tilting off the path she had planned it to take. "Why would you think I wanted anything from you? What if I just wanted to know how your day's been going?"

She could practically hear him making his usual 'are you serious?' face at her through the phone. "Since when is that ever the case?"

"Touché, but that is not the point today. Today, I need you to come over and taste some sandwiches; I got some new flavors and everything." Eirys explains knowing that using food is the easiest way to get Mr. Gold to do what you want him to do. "And, in case you're wondering, it's for a little get together with Mary Margaret."

Mr. Gold sighs, pretending to be think it over, even though Eirys knew that he had already decided. "I'll be right over."

And as it turns out, when he said he'd be right over, he meant right over. Within minutes of putting the phone down, Mr. Gold was already over and sitting comfortably in his chair, eagerly awaiting the promised food. "So, why do you make everything with cucumber?"

"Cucumbers are good, why not use cucumbers?" Eirys counters chopping up more thin slices of cucumbers and mechanically making more avocado, mayonnaise, and cucumber sandwiches. "Here, try this one; it has no cucumbers in it."

Mr. Gold bites into it. "Honey apples and bananas, it's actually not that bad." He says downing a glass of milk afterwards. "It's a bit on the dry side."

"Whatever," Eirys replies, as she secretly spreads less peanut butter on the other honey apples and banana sandwiches. "Maybe I should bake something like a carrot cake?"

"Only if you plan to share," Mr. Gold replies reaching for the third flavor of sandwich, a three cheese grilled sandwich. "How come you never make these types of sandwiches when I come over, all I get are cucumbers."

Eirys rolls her eyes, pouring hot orange tea into canisters for transportation. "Don't eat too many or else I won't have enough to bring to Mary Margaret's. Oh, and I need you to take care of any of my customer's that might come over."

Mr. Gold merely shoos her towards the door the clock ticking closer to the designated meeting time. However, when Mary Margaret said that Emma had something to tell them both Eirys merely assumed it had something to do with Henry and Regina, but no, it did not. "Mary Margaret, what is going on here?" Eirys whispers, watching the hungry kids practically inhale the sandwiches.

"I don't know Emma just brought them here." And Sheriff Swan was busy doing sheriff stuff like figuring out who these children were and why they didn't have any children.

"Do either of you know them?" Emma asks, making sure to keep her voice down to a soft whisper as the children continue to eat like they never saw food before. "Do they go to your school?"

"I've seen them, but I had no idea that they were homeless." Mary Margaret says shaking her head sadly. "None of us did."

Emma had found a folder with their names. "Eva and Nicholas Zimmer, apparently their mother was a woman named Dory Zimmer, she died a few years ago. No one seems to know her or remember her."

"And the father?" Eirys asks.

"There isn't one," Emma replies reading the file. "At least not one that they know of."

"What did social services say?" Emma makes a face that Mary Margaret seems to recognize immediately. "You didn't report them."

"I report them, I can't help them." Emma explains.

Eirys nods. "The system isn't very reliable, and they're so small, they'll get eaten alive out there where families are paid to take in foster kids. But what are you going to do, adopt them?"

"I want to look for their father, they don't know him, and so he might know that they exist." Emma says she had a very odd optimistic view of the world. She automatically knew the worst possible situations, yet believed that she could somehow fix everything.

"And you think that if he knows, he'll want them." Mary Margaret says rationally.

"I don't know." Emma explains, "But I do know that it's hard enough finding a foster family to take in one let alone two. It's their best shot or—"

"We're going to be separated?" Eva asks.

Eirys had been doing some weird looking dance trying to tell Emma to shut up, but of course, her little crazy dance was done in vain and now came that awkward moment when all the beans had to be spilled.

"No, of course not." Emma assures.

Mary Margaret had agreed to let the children remain at her place for the time being while Emma looked for their father. "You could go and dig up their birth certificates, I'm sure the father's name has to be written on there." Eirys suggests before driving back to her little flower shop.

_ It's not usually strange when people go missing. Some of them just runaway from their nagging wives, some go on journeys to faraway places, and others might become food for the wild beasts of the forests. However, it's very strange that children should go missing especially when they are all last seen at one particular place with one particular woman. _

_ "So you think the queen is kidnapping these children?" Bae asks pacing around the tree, it wasn't often that they were offered a job that didn't involve him being Ivy's most 'trusted' assistant. _

_ Ivy shrugs, she was never really good with mysteries. "It's a possibility, but use would she have for children, they are hardly good sources of labor, unless she eats them." Ivy shudders at the very thought of eating children. _

_ "Well, I suppose I'll go and try to dig something up on this little matter then." Bae says walking towards the edge of the forest, stopping right before he steps out. "And why, might I ask, are you following me?"_

_ There are many things Ivy couldn't do well; one of such things was being sneaky. "I just want to know where you go when you leave the Fairy Grounds." She tried her best sad pleading look, letting her eyes tear up a bit, and her lower lip sticking out and quivering like a leaf. "Please let me go with you."_

_ "Very well," Bae sighs never standing a chance against that face. He leads the way down the dirt road away from the nearest village. "And don't you dare tell anyone about this."_

_ Ivy silently follows Bae down some twisted turns in the path trying to figure out where they were going. Of course, nothing could have prepared for what she was about to encounter. "You live here?"_

_ "Yep."_

_ "In this castle." And it is a beautiful castle with intricate tower designs and well maintained stone structures. "And you go to the Fairy Grounds, why?"_

_ He shrugs pulling the door to his castle open. "In you go," the inside of the castle is just as impressive as the outside. There were brilliant tapestries on the walls, lush rugs covering the floors, and sparkling rare artifacts shown off on pedestals. Before Ivy could wander off and explore the castle, Bae ushers her off to the main dinning room. "Even if I have all this stuff, I can't eat any of it."_

_ "So you're just using me for the food." Ivy says critically sipping the steaming tea Bae had set in front of her. She had admire the beautifully crafted tea cup, it's hard getting good quality items in the Fairy Grounds, but it was even harder to trade for them. _

_ "It's not like that." Bae says, finding that he was in a loss of words to explain his situation. "Sometimes even I need a friend to talk to." If Bae could be bought by food then Ivy could be bought by playing the sad soul that she saved. _

_ Ivy sighs, she never was good at staying mad at people. "Very well then, however, we still have to figure out why the children are disappearing. You said you'd dig around for information."_

_ "Well, as it turns out," Bae says waving his finger around. "I know who we should be looking for, the Queen."_

_ "The Queen?" Ivy repeats unable to find a connection between an evil queen and poverty-stricken children. "Why would the Queen ever need to employ children when she has an entire army at her disposal?"_

_ "Because, dearie, they can do something that adults can not do." He gets up and walks to one of his many bookshelves. "Do you remember the area that all the children seem to be last seen?" he pulls a rolled up map from its resting place and spreads it out on the table. _

_ Ivy looks at the crudely drawn map. "Right here," she points to a small patch of green representing one of the many forests under the Queen's rule. "What's so special about the forest?"_

_ "Well, for one, it's not just a regular forest." Bae explains. "In that forest lives a blind old witch whose house is made of delicious sweets."_

_ Ivy nods letting the information soak into her head. "So, if the blind witch covers her house with magic then the Queen can't get in, but if the magic doesn't affect children then the Queen just has to kidnap children and send them in." it sounded like a full proof plan. "But why would the Queen want to break into the blind witch's house?"_

_ Bae shrugs. "Who really knows what that woman is thinking?"_

_ "So how are we supposed to stop the Queen? It's not like either of us could enter the house and those children who never come out are probably being fried alive and fed to hungry dogs!" _

_ "I wouldn't say that they're being fed to dogs." Bae says catching sight of the green hue of Ivy's face. "They're probably being used as little servants, cleaning and cooking, stuff the children would be good at."_

_ Ivy quickly nods finding that idea to be better than hers. "Well, I can't see how we can do anything to remedy the situation; expect to help her next victims in and out of the candy house." _

_ Bae suddenly remembers something. "I heard that a woodcutter's children have gone missing, or rather the entire family has just disappeared." The whole situation just screamed of the evil Queen's meddling. "Perhaps we should go to the blind witch's candy house and see if we find some children?"_

_ Of course they could have just walked to the forest like normal people who wouldn't frighten two little children to the point where they trip over their pants, but dealing with Bae meant that they wouldn't be doing anything close to normal. Instead of traveling over ground to the forest, Bae decided that it would be best to just use magic to travel. And of course they would land right in front of two starving looking children who stumbled over themselves when they tried to run away. _

_ "Oh, no, don't be afraid, we're here to help you." Ivy says trying to calm the hyperventilating children. "My name is Ivy, I'm the Flower Fairy, and this is my assistant, Bae."_

Eva and Nicholas really liked sweets, especially cookies. "I knew it was a good idea to bake cookies, Mr. Gold wanted me to make carrot cake." Eirys smiles as she decorates another sugar cookie with a pink and blue flower. "Aren't they the cutest cookies in the world?"

"Thanks for the cookies." Eva says licking the frosting off her fingers.

"Here I want to show you guys something." Emma says carrying her box of things to the kitchen counter. And out of the box comes a white and purple blanket with her name embroidered on it. "It's my baby blanket. It's something I've held onto my whole life. It's the only thing I have from my parents. I spent a lot of time with kids like you and all of us have something we hold on to."

Eirys claps finally understanding the motive for bringing out the baby blanket. "So you want to try and tack him down using something they could have kept from their father."

"I might have something." Eva admits, "But if I give it to you, you promise we'll stay together?"

Emma nods and Eva reaches into the pocket of her donated sweater. "A compass?" Emma looks at the brass circular object.

"Our mom kept it. She said it was our dad's."

"We can ask Mr. Gold if he's ever seen something like that." Eirys says finishing the decorations of the last cookie. "It looks like something he would have sold in his shop."

"Did you ever find them?" Eva asks right before Emma starts for the door. "You're parents?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to find yours."

Mr. Gold's shop is as dusty and lack of customer presence as always. "Emma, Eirys, how lovely to see you both. I don't usually get so many customers at one time. What can I do for you, Sheriff?"

Emma puts the compass down on the counter. "I'm looking for information about this compass. Do you have idea where it could have come from?"

"Well, look at the detail." Mr. Gold went off into his own little antique world for a few moments, admiring the nice jeweled setting of the compass. "You know, despite the unfortunate shape it's in, it's a very unusual piece. The person who owned this obviously had great taste."

"So naturally they would buy it right here," Eirys concludes not knowing any other place where a person could buy something of that caliber. "Do you remember who bought it?"

"Let's see," he wanders over his box of records "but as it just so happens, I do keep extensive records." And in no time he's holding the card with the customer's name on it.

But when he did not give it to Emma immediately there had to be a certain agreement made between the two of them. "What's your price?"

"Forgiveness,"

"How about tolerance?"

Mr. Gold shrugs, "one has to start somewhere, and the compass was purchased by one Mr. Michael Toleman."

"I don't suppose you bothered to get his address?" Eirys asks even though she knew that he wouldn't. Mr. Gold rarely ever saw the same customer twice. And of course, Mr. Gold shakes his head with that same taunting smile on his face. "I don't suppose you need any help convincing the father to take in the kids."

"Don't worry about it." Emma says turning to leave the store like a woman on a mission. "I'll convince him one way or another."

Eirys glances back at Mr. Gold after Emma leaves the store. "There's nothing written on that card is there?" He reveals the blank card with a mockingly guilty face. "Just what are you planning, Mr. Gold?"

_"So the Queen is going to find your father if you get this black satchel from the blind witch's house." Ivy summarizes after Hansel and Gretel tell their story. "What's in the bag?"_

_ "We don't know," Gretel replies, the sun just starting to set. "She told us to go in when the sun goes down and that we aren't supposed to eat anything."_

_ "Maybe if you leave the window open, I can fly in if you need any help." Ivy says slowly as if she was trying to convince herself that the plan would work. One could never be too sure about the powers of a witch. "We'll wait our here for you, ok?"_

_ Hansel and Gretel nod, silently walking towards the house. Hansel was the one who needed to be watched as he was more likely to fall to the temptations of the house of treats. "What do you think is happening?" Bae asks when the window suddenly closes and the locks fall into place. _

_ "I don't want to know." Eirys says pacing back and forth, it seemed like ages before Hansel and Gretel come flying out of the door. "Whoa, it's ok, she's not chasing after you, but we should probably leave just in case."_

_ "Well I suppose the mystery of the missing children is now over." Bae says watching the children disappear down the road towards the Queen's castle. "What do you think was in that bag?"_

_ Ivy shrugs, not bothering to try and understand the twisted mind of the Queen. "Let's just say that I don't really want to know, nor do I have the energy to find out." The entire day of just waiting around and doing nothing was surprisingly exhausting. "Do you feel that?"_

_ The sudden burst of window flying up towards the castle screams of angry magic. "Looks as if someone didn't do what the Queen wanted them to do." Bae says watching the wind fly into a tower. _

_ "I hope Hansel and Gretel are ok," Ivy says knowing that the two kids were probably not ok and that their father could possibly be in a worse situation. "Maybe we should go talk to the Queen?"_

_ "And ask her what? That you want her to let the children go?" Bae asks shaking his unruly hair. "Sorry, dearie, but the Queen doesn't let anyone go, ever."_

"In the end you couldn't convince him to take back his children?" Eirys asks a spoon of banana pudding in her mouth. "What did Mary Margaret say?"

"She says that it might be for the best." Emma replies clearly not liking the situation the kids were in. And she is probably angry at the father for abandoning his children. "Regina is making me take them to Boston and they're going into the foster system."

Eirys shakes her head. "That sounds like a bad idea, remember what happened when Ashley tried to go to Boston? It seems like whenever we try to leave, something bad happens, what if you or the children get hurt?"

"You do not honestly believe Henry's story are you?" Emma asks.

"Hey, I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and read that our sheriff and two children were killed trying to leave Storybrooke, I mean, at least wait until morning. The wet roads are giving me the creeps."

"Sorry, the mayor's orders." Emma sighs, the time social security were expecting the kids was drawing closer and closer with each passing minute. "Isn't there anything that we can do?"

"Besides trying to convince Michael to take in his kids?" Eirys asks, "I don't think so, besides kidnapping them and hiding them somewhere, but we really can't do that."

Emma sighs once again, clicking her cell phone off. "I take it that the conversation between Miss. Swan and Mr. Toleman didn't go so well." Mr. Gold says scooping another hearty bowl of banana pudding.

"I guess not all stories have happy endings then." Eirys says finishing her first bowl of banana pudding. "It seems like such a waste to just throw all these bananas away. I wish Eva and Nicholas were still here, I could feed them banana bread, and banana cookies, and banana sandwiches."

"I'm still here," Mr. Gold puts in, though his stomach probably couldn't handle all the bananas Eirys had managed to get her hands on. "Where did you get all these bananas anyways?"

"I won a raffle thing at the market." Eirys replies peeling more bananas, "So, I'm making banana bread for Mary Margaret's class and then I can send you home with a loaf or two, right?"

Mr. Gold shrugs he wasn't very picky when it came to eating food. "Perhaps you should give something to Miss. Swan; I doubt she's very happy with the outcome of the children's situation."

It seemed to be the trend of tripping over ones feet in order to get to the phone. And the fact that Mr. Gold would just stare at her in the most mocking way did not help the situation. "Hello, this is the Green Fairy, Eirys speaking." Eirys blew stray pieces of hair from her face.

"Hey, it's me, Emma."

"Emma, how are you, don't worry about a thing I'm making banana pudding, banana bread, and banana chips so come over whenever you feel like having a heart to heart chat." Eirys says stashing the left over bananas in her fridge.

Emma laughs. "No actually, he changed him mind. He's taking the kids."

"That's great news." Eirys says, wrapping her warm loaves of banana bread. "I'll send over some banana bread, and I bet the Eva and Nicholas like banana pudding. It's great that everything worked out."

"Yeah, so, I guess I should leave you to making your banana stuff, then." She never was really good at saying good-bye, and with that, she clicks off.

Eirys happily puts the phone back. "Strange things are happening now that Emma's here, wouldn't you agree?"

"Of course," Mr. Gold says taking his banana bread. "I can't wait to see what happens next."


	10. Storms on the Horizon

"I bet she's doing it again," Eirys says pouring the white tea into a white and pale green tea cup. "Even in this weather." Outside the little store the wind was howling, tossing leaves everywhere with the signs of rain. She glances once again at the grandfather clock ticking towards 7:15.

"And what would she be doing?" Mr. Gold asks taking a sip of the tea, only to put the tea cup back on the table and reach for a muffin. "Cucumber?"

Eirys sniggers silently. "Of course, I couldn't resist." She greedily pours herself another cup of the tea. "You should at least give it a change, you know."

"I'd rather not." He says ripping apart his banana bread muffin. "So, going back to what we were discussing before we were interrupted by this, tea." He pushes the tea away from him, as if distance could eliminate all of the malice he had for the flavor.

Eirys takes the teacup and pours its contents down the drain. "Mary Margaret has taken up the habit of stalking a certain someone every single day around this moment in time at a certain café."

"I see," Mr. Gold says probably not taking much care about the affairs of someone he held at arm's length. "How do you know about this little detail in her life?" Eirys pours him a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

"I have my own ways of learning information. You're not the only one with connections around Storybrooke."

_"Come on Bae, how do you know you won't like it if you've never tried it?" Ivy demands jogging slightly to keep up with Bae's longer strides and they make their way through the forest. Since Ivy had free time due to the wedding between Prince James and Midas's daughter, Ivy thought that she might as well help Bae with his work. _

_ Bae whirls around almost causing the shorter girl to run into him. "That isn't food, its poison. The last time I got near it I got hives." They were once again arguing about Bae's terrible diet and the fact that here seemed to be a nice layer of fat growing around his midsection. _

_ Ivy rolls her blue eyes as they continue their little journey. "But pumpkins are amazing."_

_ "You can go and feed your pumpkin filled foods to your other little friend," Bae says strolling down the trail that led to a small dock just at the edge of the forest. "But I have a little business to take care of."_

_ "With whom?" Ivy asks just barely hearing the splashing sounds of a boat. However, the mist that had settled itself over the lake masked the view of the stranger. "What should I do?"_

_ "You should just stay here and don't do anything stupid." He starts to walk out of the covering of the forest. "And don't make a single peep." And with that he too disappears under the veil of the mist. _

_ And of course, being told to do nothing meant that time would only trickle by so slowly in Ivy's mind. The rustling sound of legs walking through bushes roused her from her slumber. "What took you so long?" Ivy yawns, stretching her arms above her head. _

_ "If you must know, I was tending to a young girl's broken heart." Bae says offering Ivy a hand from her cuddled position with a nearby tree. "Love is a dangerous thing after all."_

_ "Love can also be very important; no one can deny its powers." Ivy says through her yawns. "So, did you help her gain the love that she wanted?"_

_ "It's more like forgetting an impossible love." Bae replies helping Ivy make their way through the dense forest. On a day when she wasn't so tired, Ivy would be able to hear the mischievous tricky tone to his usual mocking voice. However, being tired in the middle of a forest very late into the night did nothing for her cognitive abilities. "It was a love that was not meant to be."_

_ "I hope she's happy like this," Ivy mumbles transferring her tired glomp to Bae, attaching her arms around his arm, her long finger nails biting into his skin painfully. "I wonder what will happen if the two of them meet again."_

_ "I guess we'll just have to see." Bae says trying to pry her fingers off his arm with no results. By the time they had made it back to his castle, Bae was literally dragging Ivy's deadweight body on the ground. "You are not the easiest creature to drag through the forest." _

_ He lays her under the covers before going to bang his head against a nearby wall for the not realizing that he could have just found a magically solution to the problem instead of taking the hard and laborious way out of things. "I'll have you pay me in the morning." Bae rubs his sore arm thankful to the nearby lamp that he used to replace his arm in Ivy's iron grip. _

_ However, upon entering his sanctuary room the familiar scent of pumpkins wafted up to his nose. Of course he couldn't go one day without having some sadistic joke played on him by either the world or by Ivy. "And I'm going to collect with interest." He takes the plate of pumpkin pie and walks it towards the trash bin. However, the sparkling white whip cream sitting on top of the soft flaky crust covering the muted orange pumpkin filling made his stomach growl. "Just one bite couldn't hurt." And just as his instinct had told him, the pie, upon digestion was like a punch to his gut. So never again will Bae ever eat late night pumpkin pie. _

_ "I see you enjoyed the pumpkin pie," Ivy says having recovered from his fatigue. Her smiling innocent face was just a little too innocent. "I don't suppose you left any room for a little feast at a nearby estate?"_

_ "Are you talking about the feast at King Midas's castle for the wedding between Prince James and Abigail?" Bae asks rubbing his stomach, he suspicious picks at his freshly made salad of greens and meat. "You didn't put anything in this, right? I'm not going to run off to the bathroom after eating this, am I?"_

_ "Of course not, that would be too cruel." Ivy says pushing the plate of salad towards the paranoid friend of hers. "I just can't wait for the party; I heard that King Midas has a lot of fancy dinnerware."_

_ "He can turn anything he touches into gold with that hand of his." Bae adds thinking about getting a golden platter for his room, it would add that last bit of luster that his room was currently lacking. "You don't think he'd mind loaning me one."_

_ Ivy gently smacks him on the head. "You shouldn't try to steal from him, after all, he's letting us eat at his castle, don't ruin this for me!"_

"I like how you came to me to help you with this problem." Eirys says pulling out a surprising well maintained bird cage from under a pile of junk in her storage shed behind her house. "I can't remember the last time I've used this thing."

Mary Margaret puts the white feathered bird in the cage, letting it sit on some shredded newspaper. "Maybe we should take it to the animal shelter?"

"Woah, hold up, rewind," Eirys says holding up her hands. "'We' aren't going anywhere, you're going to take the bird to the animal shelter. I have a lot of work to do around here to prepare for the storm." Although the weather channel said the storm wouldn't be coming for a while, the wind and the rain clouds were telling a different story.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back, once I'm sure she's ok." Mary Margaret says taking the cage to her car. "I'll call you if I need anything!"

"Don't do anything stupid Mary Margaret." Eirys calls out after her, although the wind probably blew her comments away from the school teacher. "You don't think one of us should go with her do you?" Ashley Boyd shakes her head seeming to have the childish fear of thunder.

Ashley flinches as another crack of thunder sounds above them. "P-perhaps we should finish this up first?" she gestures towards the potted plants that were sitting outside. They needed to be taken into the back storage room and any flowers that were rooted to the soil outside needed to be wrapped and some sort of container needed to be securely placed on top. "We have a lot to do."

And not enough time. Eirys glances up at the sky. The dark rain clouds were bloated with water. "Go fetch Mr. Gold; we need all the help we can get." Eirys props the store door open while trying to get her large pots inside.

"I don't suppose you'd need any help." Mr. Gold says with a cowering Ashley behind him. "I'll stand here, and try not to get in your way." He leans against the door, holding it open with Ashley and Eirys take the heavy plants in doors.

"Why don't you head home, Ashley." Eirys pushes the last potted plant into her backroom, making it look like a deranged jungle. "I'm sure Alexandra is awaiting your return."

Ashley nods quickly gathering her stuff to leave for the day. "Maybe you should drive her home. She looks jumpier than a loose leaf." Indeed, Ashley Boyd may have gone through hours of labor, but she was still a young woman who was afraid of thunder.

"Ashley, let me drive." Eirys takes the keys out of the shaky girl's hands. "I don't think it's safe for you to be driving if you're this jumpy. You can have Sean drop you off tomorrow morning to pick up your car." Ashley gratefully takes the passenger seat of Eriys's car, letting the older woman drive her back to Sean's house where Alexandra was spending the day.

"You look like a drowned cat." Mr. Gold says stepping around the potted plants to hand Eirys a dry towel. Eirys had managed to get Ashley to Sean's house before the storm hit, but once the storm came it came down like no other. Within a matter of seconds the streets were starting to flood and she was soaked to the bone from the run from her car to her store.

Eirys tosses her wet jacket into the laundry basket by her washing machine. "It could have made, I was this close." She holds her index finger mere centimeters from her thumb. "Just another minute and I would be inside, warm, and still dry."

And in that exact moment all of the electricity goes out. "Well, isn't this pleasant?" Mr. Gold asks sarcastically. He could hear the calm shuffles of Eirys's socks making its way around the tiny kitchenette looking for candles.

"I just hope that we don't burn the store down or my house." Eirys says lighting another white candle; they had over a dozen candles lit just to have enough light to walk around the plants without tripping. "I can try and get the other stove working."

For some reason she had one of those stoves that needed to be fueled by wood to work. In modern times it's not a very convenient piece of technology; however, its times like these that Mr. Gold no longer questions the eccentricity of his store neighbor. "Please do," He gently eases himself into his chair, watching the wax slowly melt off the candles.

Luckily for the both of them the old stove seemed to have enough energy to make a good pot of hot tea. "Just watch the water while I got changed." Eirys says taking a candle and disappearing up the stairs to her room. "And don't let it boil too much unless you want the tea to burn your tongue."

"Yes, yes." Mr. Gold replies carelessly. He knew his response would infuriate her and make her worry about the tea because if there is one thing he learned about her in all the years they have known each other is that her pride is deeply connected to her ability to make good tea. Why it was like that, he could only guess, but he knew that she would not allow herself to make a bad brew. "I was watching it you know."

Eirys rolls her blue eyes, fixing the collar of her sweater after she came tumbling down the stairs to check up on the tea. "Not with that type of attitude." She quickly scans her many boxes of teas. "I think a nice calming peach tea is in order."

_"So, you want me to help you check up on Snow, because of some love story connection the two of you had while you both were locked in King George's prison?" Ivy asks rubbing her sleepy eyes. The party the previous night was full of excessive eating and some how, lots of drinking. "Why should I do this again?"_

_ Grumpy rolls his stony eyes. "Because you obviously have nothing better to do, you're picking peaches in the dark." Grumpy definitely lived up to his name, even though he was actually just a real softy. _

_ "What if I had a sudden desire to eat peaches in the middle of the night?" Ivy counters even though it was not true. "But I suppose I could join you and see how that tricky little girl is doing."_

_ It was surprising to find Snow White walking away from King George's castle in tears. "Hey sister, I guess you didn't find him." Grumpy and the other dwarves merge in with her, their lanterns lighting up the road in front of them. _

_ "It's worse than that, I lost him." Snow says wiping her tears on a handkerchief offered by Ivy. Grumpy reaches out and grasps her hand, squeezing it once. _

_ "Come along then." Ivy says as the dwarves lead Snow White down the path she was currently on. "We're going home."_

_ Snow looks to Grumpy for an explanation. "We all lost someone today. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. Now, we're going to take you home and we're going to protect you."_

_ "I don't need protection, but my heart." She lets go of Grumpy's hand and takes a clear vial filled with a cloudy white liquid out of her pocket. "But with this, all my feelings, all this pain can be erased."_

_ "No," Grumpy says snatching the vial away before Ivy could wonder what was in the vial, and before Snow could make the fatal mistake of drinking the liquid and becoming a possible vegetable for the rest of her life. _

_ "But you of all people should know what it's like. You lost love too." Snow White says trying to make him understand. "What if all of your pain would be erased?"_

_ "I don't want to erase my pain." Grumpy explains, "I need my pain, it makes me who I am, Grumpy. You're not alone anymore, that's the entire cure you need. And if the pain gets too much." He hands the vial back to her. "But not tonight."_

_ Ivy smiles leading them back off the path towards the dwarf's house deep within the forest. "And you can always come to me for anything you need just send out the word and I'll come, ok?"_

_ Snow nods, "I'll try." _

_ "Good, now we can't have you dressing or smelling like dwarves while you heal so I'll arrange for something more suitable to be brought to you." Ivy says mentally making a list of all the items the dwarves were going to need now that they were living with a human. "And perhaps some food, you look thinner than I last saw you, but it might just be the isolation."_

_Ivy takes another glance at the cloudy liquid sitting in the vial on the desk in the little room the dwarves had allowed Snow to stay in. Ivy had the sudden urge to just snatch it up and toss its contents down the nearest outhouse she could find, however, if Snow was stupid enough to do something like that, then all hope of true love would be lost with it. _

_ "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid like trying to stop the royal wedding." Ivy whispers to Grumpy before pulling the hood of her traveling cloak over her head to block out the bright rays of the sun. "And try to keep and eye on that vial." _

_ A potion that could take away the feelings of a broken heart sounded too good to be true, especially at this moment in time when Snow's emotions were going crazy. No potion could perform its duties without some sort of side effect and the stronger the potion, the stronger the side effect is, and the stronger its effect on the user's life it will be. _

_ Grumpy nods, "Don't worry about her, she's in safe hands here." Ivy nods heading back into the forest. _

As it turns out, the forest areas took the brunt of the storm, leaving most, if not all the shops intact. "You know what I miss?" Eirys asks rhetorically skimming through the morning paper. "The stories that Sydney used to write."

"Even if the stories were about your friend, Emma and were printed under the direction of the mayor?" Mr. Gold asks sipping his tea. "Are we on some sort of diet here? All I see is peaches and last week it was bananas."

Eirys rolls her eyes, tossing the boring paper to the side. "I got a lot of peaches for a good price. And I like peaches. I'll make a fruit salad for tomorrow." She added yogurt to a list of food she needed to buy. "I sure hope you plan on giving me a discount the next time I go to your store. After all, I'm practically feeding you here."

"Of course," Mr. Gold says, money was never a problem for him since he owned most of Storybrooke and had plenty of land that could be leased and sold to other people who could find better use for that space. "Maybe you should grow a peach tree if you like peaches so much."

_"You have a lovely tree my Queen," Ivy glances up from picking at the hem of her coral pink dress. She was supposed to look her best of this little meeting, but it was so boring. Her friend Saphira had called her lucky for being able to travel with her parents for a while; however, Ivy would have rather just stay at home with a good book. "I'm sure it's roots will settle down nicely here." _

_ King Leopold's second wife glances down at the little fairy girl. "What a beautiful daughter you have, and such wonderful blue eyes."_

_ "Yes, she's going to be just like her mother." Ivy reaches up with her tiny arms and wraps them around her father's neck, and buries her face into his shirt, avoiding the gaze of the new queen. "I hope your tree will become as luscious as it was before." _

_ The queen gazes at the tree with a certain emotion that one would not usually use to look at a tree. "Tell me, do you think my tree will be happy here?"_

_ "One can never know." Ivy's mother replies. "But I'm sure that no matter where the tree is, it will wish that you are happy here with it." Indeed, people usually didn't see trees or plants to have any type of feeling, but in reality, their feelings are just expressed in a way that humans can't understand. "I can tell that the two of you have a special bond."_

_ The queen gives the apple tree one last pat on the trunk. "That we do, thank you for coming so quickly when I called for your aid."_

_ The pair bows to the queen. "It's always our pleasure to assist those pure of heart and fair of life."_

_ "Thank you, it's a shame you won't be staying for supper." The queen says in what can only be described as a royal voice. "Perhaps, another time, then."_

_ The two fairies bow, swiftly making their way out of the blue and gray toned castle. Despite being able to bring their daughter out of the Grounds for the day, they had to return before nightfall or else they would loose any privileges they wished to gain in the future. _

_ "You two just barely made it." The mayor says, not that he was actually timing them or anything and could have cared less if the two fairies were the taddest bit late on their return. "I hope you two remember your agreement?"_

_ The parents nod, letting one of the wish granting fairies remove the memories from their daughter's mind. "We can't have the children be tainted with any sort of outside influences at the moment. She will remember once she gets her wings though."_

_ "She will do many things, this daughter of ours." Ivy's father pats Ivy's tiny sleeping head. "I just hope this memory won't come back to haunt her when she finally remembers it."_

"Here are some sandwiches in case she comes late, being the mayor and all, it must be a time consuming job." Eirys says packing wrapped banana sandwiches into the lunch box on her counter. "I can't even imagine what Regina could gain from buying your land, especially in the middle of the forest."

"Sometimes in this line of work, one shouldn't ask so many questions." Mr. Gold suggests plucking the lunch box from her kitchen counter. "I'll return this tomorrow morning."

Usually there are merely a few sentences exchanged about any sort of deal transaction that Mr. Gold went through, however, this one was particularly juicy. "So, Emma and Sydney were trying to spy on you and Regina?"

"I wouldn't really put it that way," Mr. Gold puts in, though he doesn't technically deny the statement. "I think the two of them are up to something interesting. I don't suppose you have any new information to give me."

Eirys shrugs, never one to gossip about the inhabitants of Storybrooke as Mr. Gold was so fond of doing. "I heard of the stranger that has come to Storybrooke, Regina was asking around about him. He's kind of like an enigma."

"There's no law against coming to Storybrooke," Mr. Gold points out, his face totally void of any possible emotions that he could be thinking about inside that manipulating brain of his. "But, maybe, she'll bring it up during the city counsel meeting."

Eirys groans, banging her head against the table. "We have to attend that meeting don't we?"

"Unfortunately so." Mr. Gold says, only for Eirys to slump down into her chair. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

Eirys lets out a dry laugh. "Yeah, so she can come over and uplift me from my house. No thank you, I think I'll just play sick and not go. Tell her that I give her my full support and that I wish her the best of health." Eirys quickly gets up and clears off the table, letting Mr. Gold finish off the last bits of the, mostly peach, fruit salad.

"And, what exactly will you be doing?" Mr. Gold asks knowing that Regina had her own ways of finding private information, for all anyone could know, she could have someone spying on them right this second waiting for something blackmailable to show itself. "You can't be working, someone will report you."

"That's why I'm going to hide out upstairs in my bed." Eirys says furiously scrubbing the dishes. "And then you can come get me after the meeting is over and I'll make some sort of miraculous recovery by morning and we'll pretend nothing happened."

"I'll keep you up to date about things," Mr. Gold says getting ready to leave for the meeting which was to start in a few minutes. However, unlike what Regina could do to most people, she could not totally control Mr. Gold.

"I screwed up pretty badly." Emma says. Eirys nods, propping up her pillows to get into a better sitting position. "I mean, really badly."

"So, why are you calling me?" Eirys can't help but ask. Sure she was a part of Operation Cobra like Archie and Emma, but she played more of a supportive role rather than a main part of destroying this so-called curse. "Shouldn't you be arming yourself with stronger players, you could ask Mr. Gold for help."

Emma chuckles. "Sorry, but I'm not in the business of making deals with him for the moment. But if you ever want to put in a good word about me then sure, I could use all the help I can get."

"She can't keep you and Henry apart forever you know." Eirys says feeling bad for the 28 year old mother. "You're his mother too; you should have some part of his life."

"No, I have to listen to her." Emma says the sounds of her head shaking muffles the sound of her voice. "I messed up big time today and I need to stay on her good side or else things could get very ugly."

"Well, just try to keep a low profile for now." Eirys says rubbing her temples; she was probably coming down with something for real. "We all know that Regina's got her hands in some deep pockets so just be careful, you never know who you can really trust."

"Like Mr. Gold?"

"Like Sydney." Eirys says knowing that her idea of a mistrustful person would be very different from Emma's. "He's been Regina's puppet for years, and she's known for playing dirty."

"Well, I think it's about time the tables are turned."

Eirys and Emma say their good-byes and Eirys tosses the phone onto her cluttered desk. "All this drama is giving me a headache."


	11. Change of Hearts

Mr. Gold inches away from the table slowly. "Are you sure you're up to this you look absolutely terrible."

Eirys sighs holding her head in her hands. "My head is pounding and my nose is stuffy, and I think I have a fever." She replies with a thermometer in her mouth. Her chair is covered in plush blankets and pillows.

"Ok, let's check your temperature." Mr. Gold takes the thermometer out of her mouth. "Well, I suppose I should call Miss. Boyd and tell her that the shop is closed for today. And you will crawl back upstairs and stay in bed the rest of the day."

Eirys nods, shuffling towards her bedroom, taking the mound of blankets and pillows with her. "I think Mary Margaret's at Granny's right now; tell her that I won't be coming over for lunch today. Oh, and if you get that delivery, just leave it on the table."

"Get better soon or else I'll be eating at Granny's every morning from now on." Mr. Gold says finishing off the rest of his lukewarm tea, setting the dishes in the sink to be cleaned later. "Oh, and try to get better for Valentines Day, it's only the biggest flower season for the year."

"Don't remind me." Eirys's stuffy voice rings through the house. "Oh, and tell Ashley that I can't look after Alexandra tonight, or tomorrow, maybe."

No sooner did he leave and Eirys was just starting to doze off did her phone ring. "Eirys, I was wondering if Ashley's working tomorrow night?"

"No, Ruby, she's not. It appears that I've got a little cold. So, unfortunately I'll probably be closed tomorrow." Eirys explains, though her stuffy nose was sounding a bit better after the hot tea.

Ruby groans. "Not you too, I heard that Mr. French is late on his payment, so his little flower truck is going to get taken away and he's probably going to be closed too. Valentines Day this year is canceled."

"That's a bit dramatic Ruby." Eirys comments feeling only slightly bad that Valentines Day would be canceled this year, therefore, no crazy people coming to her door at the very last minute. Because of said crazy people, she had missed two consecutive years of girl's night out, and due to this sickness, she was probably going to miss a third one. "At least now you're free to have that girl's night out that you've been planning."

"And you have to come." Ruby adds in as if she had been waiting to say that the entire call. "Listen, I'm going to ask Ashley, Mary Margaret and Emma today, so you better show up tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll try my best." Eirys says trying to hint to Ruby that she needed to get off the phone. "So, I'll call and let you know." She practically drops the phone on the table and buries herself underneath her blankets.

_Bae glances around the small little house that his friend used to live in. With her lack of presence the wood didn't shine as brightly, nor did the air smell as fresh. He picks up the package that he had left her many days earlier when he thought that she had simply left on an assignment without telling him. But now, he knew that the Queen was the one who took her away from the Grounds. _

_ "I suppose she won't be needing this anymore." He places the package into his bag and tucked a small slice of cake in there as well. "Time to get moving then." He silently looks the house behind him, placing the key underneath the flower pot by the door, just in case she were to come back. _

_ On a whim he decided that his humble abode was too cheery for his sullen mood and whisked all his items and himself to a more dreary scenery in the mountains. Of course, people just wouldn't leave him alone, calling for him to answer all their problems. "Bae will stay tucked in here, until she returns." Rumplestiltskin says placing the tea set he had plan on giving Ivy behind his unused cupboard. _

_ He could just imagine the moment in his mind as he made his way towards the caller, taking an excruciatingly long time on purpose. In his mind he could see the pale green grass of the meadow and the old tree next to the creek. And she would come with a little basket around her thin wrist and inside would be a cake that she had painstakingly decorated with little blue and green flowers. _

_ And he would pretend to not understand the reason for the celebration even though he had been counting down the days to her birthday. But she would forgive him, she always forgave him in the end. And then he would surprise her with a wrapped package with a new tea set. Simple white cups and saucers and on only one side, a simple blue flowery design was drawn, in the same shade of blue that her eyes turned when she had that moment of seriousness. _

_ "Everyday you will serve me my meals, and you will clean the dark castle." Rumplestiltskin says to his new castle-keeper, a little young lady by the name of Bell. _

_ "Yes, sir." She replies shakily. She had brought his tea in the particular tea set that had immersed his thoughts moments before she entered the room. _

_ "You will dust my collection, launder my clothing," He says sitting on the opposite side of the table. Bell nods her understanding, pouring the tea with amateurish expertise. _

_ He could clearly see the way Ivy would caress the cup before pouring the tea, her delicate fingers gracefully holding each piece of the tea set. "You will bring me fresh straw when I'm spinning at the wheel._

_ "Got it," She finishes pouring the tea. _

_ "Oh, and you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts." He adds just to see her shocked face. And she does something extra, by dropping his precious tea cup. "That one was a fib, not serious." _

_ But on the inside he was almost furious. From his sitting point he could see the little piece of the cup that had come off when Bell dropped the cup. He knew that he would always end up comparing the two women against one another and he knew that he would always think that Ivy was more superior at everything. _

_ And the girl was not quiet, at all. Even when she was cleaning she would make noise that would echo around the room. "Why do you spin so much? I mean, you spin straw into gold, more than you could ever hope to spend."_

_ "I like to watch the wheel." He replies, one hand turning the spinning wheel. "It helps me forget."_

_ "Forget what?"_

_ And suddenly he's back there again, back to the images that haunt his dreams, faces of his son and Ivy, calling his name in the meadow. But no matter how fast he ran, they would always disappear before he could get to them. "I guess it worked." He replies laughing to cover up his falter. _

_ She laughs a little. Bell continues to do something to his curtains. "What are you doing?" His curiosity needing to be satisfied. _

_ "Opening these, it's almost Spring, you should let some light in." Spring, the season that is associated with green grass, pretty little flowers, and warm lemon pies. Spring was the constant season of the far away Fairy Grounds. "What did you do nail them down?" and with one great yank, the entire curtain comes tumbling down, and Hell along with it. _

_ The sudden brightness of the room blinds Rumplestiltskin for a moment. When his vision began to return he came face to face with the Bell, which accounted for the sudden weight in his arms. "Thank you." He then practically drops her to the floor, unsure of what to do next. He had never been in such a situation before. _

_ "No matter," He replies walking back to his spinning wheel. She made some comment about putting the curtains back up but he felt as if that would cause more harm than help. "There's no need, I'll get used to it." _

"How do you even know that it's missing?" Eirys asks, people just weren't leaving her along on this dreaded day. "How can it go missing?" Mr. Gold had suddenly called her up, sounding as close to frantic as he could get, which was more like angry.

"I don't know, but he got it and it's still missing." He replies angrily. "I should be finding him right now, punishing him."

Eirys coughs a little. "Don't worry about it; I'll make you a new set later. You should just let Emma handle this whole situation; she's the sheriff after all. Have a little faith, will you?" Mr. Gold makes a non-committing sound and clicks the phone off. Eirys sucks on another cough drop, letting her eyes droop. After all, is she were to have any hope of being well enough to work on Valentine's Day evening then she would need all the sleep she could get.

And sleep she did, which accounted for the twenty missed calls on her phone, almost all of them were asking is she were to be open that evening because for some reason, it was already Valentines Day.

"You slept through the entire day?" Mr. Gold raises an eyebrow, watching the bustling woman run around, setting up flowers in the displays and putting up last minute Valentine stuff. "You don't want to relapse or anything like that you know!"

"Right, and where are you off to?" Eirys asks noting that he hadn't even gotten settled in before he was making his way back out of the door. "I thought you were closed for the holiday?"

Mr. Gold shakes his head. "I have some stuff to take care of. You have a good Valentines Day." And with that, the mystery of the holiday continued as holiday celebrators come in to buy fresh flowers and give the occasional piece of chocolate.

"You have to come with us." Mary Margaret says, stepping out of the way of another late boyfriend. "I'm going to feel so old if I'm going to be there by myself, Emma ran off somewhere doing sheriff duties."

"And that means nothing to me." Eirys replies quickly ringing up the receipt. "Have a good day. Mary Margaret, please tell me that you couldn't find anything better to do besides going out to drink?"

Her face always gives it away, whether it's telling a lie or feeling overly guilty about something. "Well, it's kind of complicated right now, well what about you?"

"I don't have a significant other to share this disgusting holiday with nor do I have a secrete significant other to do so." Eirys says hinting at the secret relationship between David Nolan and Mary Blanchard.

"Well, what about Mr. Gold, you two have been friends forever." Mary Margaret says trying to divert the attention from herself towards Eirys. "I'm sure that he's not doing anything with a special person tonight."

Eirys never really thought of her friend in such a manner. Well, she always enjoyed his presence and his company was always welcomed in her mind. Not to mention the fact that she almost always agreed with his position in debates. "Well, I suppose that is also a complicated situation."

"Well, if you ever change your mind, we'll be at the bar." Mary Margaret says selecting a pen to scribble the address down. "I'm sure we'll be there drinking our sorrows of having a dateless Valentines."

"I'll keep that in mind." Eirys says, waving Mary Margaret out the door.

_"Please let me go, I don't want to be here anymore." Ivy says banging her arms against the glass bottle that held her captive in a futile attempt at getting out. "Please let me out."_

_ "Now why would I do that?" the Queen asks holding the bottle up to level with her. "You see, you are a very important part of my plan right now and if I let you go now, all of my work will be for nothing." The thing that Ivy wants to know was what part of the Queen's plan involved keeping Ivy in a glass bottle inside of her night stand. _

_ Ivy topples over when the Queen puts the bottle roughly on the table. "Listen, your friend is also a magical being as I'm sure you know, and because of that, he's a liability to my power." _

_ "So you want to get rid of him?" Ivy asks, her voice reaching high shrill-like levels. _

_ The Queen laughs, adding another layer of red lipstick to her black attire. "No, I'm simply going to remove his magic. You see, I'm doing you a favor, and in return you just need to help me destroy those enchanted trees." _

_ "But you can't destroy the enchanted trees, they are the livelihood of the forests." Ivy exclaims forgetting for a moment that her friend's life is at risk as well. "You'll be destroying this realm as we know it."_

_ "Then you can just tell where to find them and I'll destroy them myself if you can't do it." The Queen says grabbing her black parasol. "Well, I'm off for a little ride, you better have your decision made by the time I come back, or else you might not have a friend to go back to."_

_ Ivy paces around the bottle until her head starts to spin. Loose the world and keep her friend or loose her friend but save the world, why do all these dilemmas come down to loosing something. "Genie, what do you think I should do?" She had seen the Queen yell at the man in the mirror many times, but she always went to him for advice. _

_ "Well, I would say you should save the forests, but then again, that is merely my own choice." The Genie says appearing as a blue glowing face in the mirror. "Either way, the Queen has done this to ensure that you will always loose and she has everything to gain. That's what makes her so wonderful sometimes." It isn't hard to see that the Genie is very much in love with the Queen, yet the Queen feels nothing towards the Genie. _

_ "Wouldn't you feel lonely if the Queen weren't here anymore?"_

_ "Of course I would, as long as she is here. I can forever gaze upon her face, and be by her side." The Genie says. "Why do you ask?"_

_ "I would feel lonely and sad if Bae disappears from the Grounds." Ivy says, though traveling outside of the Grounds was no problem, but they had so many wonderful memories together in that meadow. "Bit I can't let this world disappear."_

_ The only way to possibly save both was to somehow trick the Queen, but tricking such a volatile woman is very dangerous. "Have you had enough time to decide on what you want to do next?" _

_ "I will tell you the locations of the enchanted trees, if you promise to leave my friend alone." Ivy says with what she hoped was confidence and not fear. The Queen could smell fear a mile away. _

_ The Queen smiles. "Very good, now, shall we begin?" She pulls out a map of the kingdoms, it's crudely drawn as most maps are and didn't have exact measurements or details as to the different areas. "And once I've confirmed your information, I'll never touch your friend again."_

_ "Here, and there's another one in this forest, and one further up this mountain, and this one is by a lake." And the list went on and one. All those voices would disappear, and that would be it, that would be the price she had to pay to keep her friend safe. "And that's the last one."_

_ "Good, now I suppose I should get to work then." The Queen says getting up to leave. "I have trees to cut down." _

_ The one thing that the Queen couldn't see is the slight green glow that Ivy usually had surrounding her was starting to fizzle around the edges. The magical balance within her mind was starting to break down. "It was for Bae, for Bae, I did this all for him. Now he's going to be ok." But even if he were to be ok, it didn't make her feel any better about the whole situation, even if she had kept a few trees hidden from the Queen, all the other ones were doomed to die. _

"You are so lucky that you are the soon-to-be husband of my employee or else I wouldn't be doing this." Eirys says carefully wrapping the last of the red roses in white paper. "And you got her a ring too?"

"Yep, all that's left are the roses." Sean says patting his pocket. "I don't have much to spare for them so keep it simple."

Eirys shakes her head. "I'll give you a discount, you don't have to worry about something as simple as this, besides, they were going to be thrown away tomorrow morning anyways." She hands him the flowers. "Now you better have a classy way to tell her all of this."

"Sean I thought you were working tonight." Ashley says, the sight of Sean at the bar during a sad girl's night out had left her in a little bit of a shock.

"I am this is my break." Sean explains, which would explain the speed at which he drove at to get to the bar, and the uniform that he was still wearing. "I had to see you." He gives her the roses, all perfectly wrapped and everything. "And ask you something."

"Can you believe it?" Eirys asks Mary Margaret jumping on the balls of her feet. "This is so exciting?"

Sean gets down on one knee, in the middle of the bar, holding a little rose red box up to Ashley. "Will you marry me?" and Ashley just stares at him, probably with her mouth wide open. "I only have a twenty minute break."

Ashley laughs and cries at the same time, nodding her head to his proposal. "Yes!" She sticks her left hand out for the ring. And to tie everything together is a tearful hug.

"My trucks outside if you want to take a ride, it's not much of a date." But what could you really expect from a teenager trying his best to support a baby and a new wife?  
>And Ashley seemed to agree. "It's the best date."<p>

"Are you leaving too?" Mary Margaret looks as Eriys puts her coat back on. "You just got here, why don't you have a drink or something?"

Eirys shakes her head. "I have some stuff to do, but you have a good Valentines Day, ok?" and the said stuff that she had to do involved a certain misbehaving, short-tempered man. "So, you got through in jail?"

"Clearly," even behind bars he had his usual attitude. "I don't suppose you'll let me go without me having to explain myself to you." Eirys shakes her head, Mr. Gold never got in trouble with the law. "Very well then, I might as well get comfortable in here."

"I know it's about that thing you called me about." Eirys whispers, not wanting Emma to stick her nose in their business. "And I thought that I told you I could make you a new one, so next time; don't go around smacking florists, ok? I guess I'll go and try to post bail sometime tomorrow, I need a drink right now."

_ "You are, ok now?" Rumplestiltskin asks, he had a nervous twitch about him, a worriedness that didn't seem satisfied with the explanation that the Queen had simply let her go. "There is nothing wrong?"_

_ Ivy shakes her head. "No of course not, now, regarding the reason I called you out here?" She rubs the side of her teacup, one of the many signs of her actually being nervous about something. "I hear you're good at making deals."_

_ "And that I am." He replies forgetting for a moment that in the heat of a tense situation, the earth fairy had repressed all of her memories regarding a certain kidnapping. "What can I do for you today?"_

_ Ivy walks to her cupboard and pulls a small teacup from the depths of the shelves. "I had a friend once, and now he's gone missing." She explains bringing the teacup to the table. "I need you to find him, he'll have a matching teacup to this one." _

_ Rumplestiltskin recognizes the teacup as the one that was sitting on a pedestal in his grand room. "Do not worry, I will find your missing friend." He picks up the cup that was the pair to his own. "And restore your memories." He whispers to himself. _

"So you remember when you told me to stay away from David and I agreed?" Mary Margaret asks in a very hushed whisper after Eirys finally makes it to Granny's Diner. "I didn't do it."

"I think we already know this." Eirys whispers back, Emma nods in agreement.

Mary Margaret frowns. "Really, how?"

"I am the sheriff, she's your best friend, and you are a lovestruck school teacher, covering your tracks isn't a priority for you." Emma says simply. It is probably true, but really isn't hard to tell that Mary Margaret wasn't going to stay away from David.

"I was being discreet." She says emphasizes the words as much as possible in her whispering inside voice. "How did you guys find out?"

"Please, two cups in the sink, new perfume, the late nights out, and the lunging v-necks." Emma lists off without missing a single beat. "It wasn't very hard to put everything together."

Mary Margaret stares down at her white v-neck t-shirt. "You usually button up your shirts." Eirys supplies the answer to Mary Margaret's unspoken question. "Up until recently and we all know the reason for that."

"Why didn't either of you tell me?" Mary Margaret demands, her question pointed more towards her roommate Emma.

Emma laughs. "I'm not your mother, I just thought that you'd tell me when you're ready, which I'm guessing is now?"

Mary Margaret takes a deep breathe. "David says that he might be leaving Kathryn."

Eirys just stares at the school teacher. "You did not just say what I think you just said because if you did just say that then I think I'm going to just walk out of here before you totally spill the beans because I might end up blabbing this to everyone."

And the last thing they needed right now was for Kathryn or Regina to find out about something like this. "Thank you for listening to me, and not telling me about the whole v-neck thing." Mary Margaret says as Eirys gathers up her coat to leave.

"Everything is just really bad right now." Eirys says sipping her tea. Surely if she were to tell someone, it would be her most trusted friend, Mr. Gold. "What do you think I should do about it?"

He sips, blowing on the hot tea. "I say that you just let things work itself out. Love is a very dangerous thing to be playing with. Any occasion for these Macaroons?" He doesn't seem to really mind that she had them out; he just stuffs them into his face.

"I thought you needed a little special stuff after your little time in jail." Eirys says. Which would explain why she also had out her special chocolate spiced Chai tea, "I think you're the first person I know who's been to jail."

"Isn't that a wonderful thing?" Mr. Gold replies taking the time to indulge in the delicious treats Eirys was letting him enjoy. "I can only imagine what Mrs. Nolan must be going through."

"I imagine that she has no clue about this adultery that David's been committing behind her back." Eirys says. "I just hope that when Kathryn finds out she doesn't try to kill Mary Margaret, I don't want to read that my friend had been killed by some crazy ex-wife."

"As amusing that may be, I highly doubt that it'll happen." Mr. Gold says, and Eirys is pretty sure that he wouldn't mind reading about it. After all, it would take all the bad attention about him and divert it elsewhere. "Just kill the lying; cheating husband and all of this will be over."

Eirys shakes her head, yes, sometimes they did butt heads. "You can't stop a woman on a mission, and of all the bad romance books and reality TV shows I have watched, one thing is clear to me. The cheating husband never gets beaten by the wife or the mistress. The women just beat and hate each other."

"I wonder what that says about society."

_"Hold it right there, traveling humans." Ivy says sticking her hand up towards the small group of travelers as they get too close to a certain lake that is guarded by a certain creature who drowns its victims, or at least the stories have claimed. "What business do you have here?"_

_ "We are looking for this lake."_

_ "I know of this lake that you speak of, oh human, but I cannot let you pass." Ivy says gesturing towards the altar further up the path they were traveling on. "You see, this is the altar of tokens that the past men have given to the guardian in prayer that they could survive its wraith." There were a wide range of items, coins, gold, weapons, and everything in between. "And none have survived."_

_ Ivy recognizes two of the four as Prince James and Princess Abigail. "You must let me try." Prince James says stepping forward. "If I do not return, I will be put out of my misery, but if succeed, then Abigail can have her happiness back."_

_ "Very well, I suppose." Ivy says still having doubts that the prince could survive. Rumors of the magical realm are far more accurate than those of the human, but even her sources could not pinpoint the magical qualities this guardian possessed. "But you have been warned."_

_ Prince James nods, brushing past the altar without dropping a single token as an offering. Ivy flies a little ways behind him, watching from the tree tops as the prince tries to fill his oilskin water bag with water from the clear lake. However, just as the water bag touches the surface of the water, something ripples through the air, some force that even the prince could feel. _

_ And just like that the beast guardian of the lake appears, bubbling out of the lake. First the head of a beautiful blond woman, and then her long glittering dress made of gems. "What's your name?" The strangest part, besides the woman coming out of the lake, is that she can actually walk on top of the lake. "Do you want to know mine, because I can be anyone you want me to be?"_

_ "Stop, I know what you are." Prince James says pointing his sword at the woman's neck, ready to skewer her if she takes the wrong step forward. "You're a siren; you use your songs to try to lure me to my death."_

_ She pushes the sword easily aside. "I would never hurt a brave, powerful man like you. Not after all the things we could do." She brushes her hand against his chest, another reason why Abigail should have come. _

_ "I told you, I won't fall pray to your deceptions."_

_ Ivy could just walk out there and smack him for his stupidity, he underestimated the abilities of the woman. She could become whomever she wanted to be, which also meant that she could take on the image of the one that Prince James wished to see most in the world, Snow White. _

_ And the next thing Ivy knew is Prince Charming is being tackled by the siren of the lake who had taken Snow White's face. This could only mean that he saw through her spell and now she was going to kill him by force, "that idiotic prince, I'm going to kill him." Ivy springs from her tree flying towards the lake. _

_ The water of the lake was the siren's magic, she controls everything inside the lake leaving Ivy totally useless to help as the siren tries to drown the Prince using the lake greens and a air stealing kiss. However, somehow, he had managed to plunge a dagger into the siren's belly, leaving her to bleed out in her own lake. _

"I can't believe she would do something like that, she always seemed like a respectable young teacher." Granny says buying some new flowers for her diner, it isn't very often that she would come to buy flowers, but everyone needs to gossip sometimes. "She should be ashamed of herself."

Eirys just smiles and nods, punching the order into the machine. "I'm sure not everything is as it seems, but I agree, he is a married man with a wife." Somehow, the whole Mary Margaret with David thing had gotten out and everyone was angry at Mary Margaret. "I hope nothing dangerous happens to Mary Margaret, I don't think it would reflect well on the town if something did."

"What do you mean?" Granny asks.

"Oh, it's jut that, in cases like these, the people of the town end up attacking the person and that person gets beaten and stuff. I just don't want to find out that Mary Margaret decided to end her life just because the town is being mean to her." Eirys says trying, in her own way, to help ease the pain the teacher must be feeling.

Granny shakes her head. "That would be just awful. I would never want her to die you know, just, she shouldn't have done that." At least one person might start thinking rationally again.

"It's going to take more than that to get rid of this stigma." Mr. Gold says walking out of the back room. "After all, there are a lot of angry people out there who see Mary Margaret as a home wrecking wrench."

Eirys slaps his arm. "Don't call her that, she's not a bad person, just slightly confused right now. We can't blame her for all the bad things that are happening right now."


	12. Red Dreams

_"She's late, isn't she?" Saphira asks sitting on her cloud, scanning the sky for a clumsy fairy in pink. "I don't see her anywhere."_

_ Ivy sighs, picking at the green dress she wore, thee were so many other things she could be doing at that moment. "I'm sure Nova will be here soon, she's a little uncoordinated after all." And sure enough, they soon hear the screaming voice of the super uncoordinated young fairy, Nova. _

_ "Easy, easy does it." Nova still needs to work on her landing skills. "Careful, remember, fairy dust is very important, it powers the whole world. And this is the year supply." _

_ Nova nods. "I know."_

_ "And, next year, you'll be doing this alone." Ivy says brightly. _

_ But Nova doesn't look happy at all. "I'll still be picking up dust? I thought I'd be a fairy Godmother by then." Usually fairies with gift granting powers would go through a simple phase of doing menial jobs while under an apprenticeship from a fairy Godmother before they are promoted to the status of fairy Godmother. _

_ Saphira laughs, "Oh, Nova. You really are a dreamer." Ivy tosses her a dirty look. "You're journey is just beginning. Now, can you get the dust home safely?"_

_ Fairy dust is dropped all over the world; whenever a fairy flies they drop their magic into the earth. Then it trickles through the ground and usually settles in some rocks below the earth. The dwarves would mine the rocks, crush them, and reform it into fairy dust. _

_ Nova nods. Saphira sighs, spreading her blue tinted wings and flying off. "Don't worry about it, Nova. I'm sure you'll become a fairy Godmother before you know it." Ivy reassures, "now, let's get going."_

"Guess what's coming up?" Eirys asks scooping honey into her teacup to sweet her apple and ginger tea. "Mr. Gold you aren't even listening to me." She snatches the snickerdoodles away from Mr. Gold's grabby hands.

He scowls. "Oh, let me guess. Miner's Day?"

"Exactly, I'm going to help Mary Margaret sell candles, it's going to be so much fun." Eirys says enthusiastically, not letting the rumors about Mary Margaret get her too down. "I'm going down to help later today, a lot of volunteers dropped out because of Mary Margaret."

"You'd think they'd be in it for the fundraiser." Mr. Gold says. "Bring me back a candle or something."

Eirys pouts, putting the snickerdoodles back on the table. "You don't want to come and help? It's a Storybrooke tradition."

"I'm busy with work." Mr. Gold replies, though Eirys suspected that he just didn't want to do any work today, or any other day. "Maybe I'll drop by to visit when I'm done."

Or it could have been the cold; Mr. Gold is not a winter kind of person. Outside is actually quite chilly and Eirys pulls her blue knitted hat over her ears and walks down the street. People are already bustling around, working on lights and stands, and everything else that needed to be done.

"Oh, Eirys, over here!" one of the younger nuns ushers her over. "What was that thing that you told me before about dreams and stuff?"

"You can do anything as long as you can dream it?" Eirys asks, it was a long time ago when the two of them met, they weren't really friends. Astrid and the other nuns would always help out for Miner's Day and Eirys always helped out. They got along.

Leroy, the custodian seems to be actually having a normal conversation with Astrid, how rare. "You really believe in that?" Perhaps he has taken a liking into the young woman, it'll be good for him.

"Of course, look how easily you fixed the lights." Astrid says, the lights were nicely done, not something one would expect from Leroy. "I believe that you can do anything." She brushes some white flakes from his face. "I, we, should be getting to the volunteer center. It was very nice to meet you Leroy."

Astrid clumsily tries to lead Eirys through the crowd of passing people. "Well, aren't you happier than usual?"

"No, of course not." She denies it way too quickly. "I mean, I just met him, and he helped me. Of course I would be happy. It saves me a lot of time trying to fix that thing."

"Yeah, Leroy doesn't help anyone." Eirys says, Astrid leading them in a large circle. "He's the town drunk, he doesn't do anything but make people angry."

Astrid glances over her shoulder. Leroy seems to be busily making his way through the crowd. "Then why would he help me?"

"Why indeed?"

Eirys frowns, there weren't that many people helping this year. "Oh Eirys thank goodness you're here." Mary Margaret says, even though this is supposed to be a happy celebration, she looks absolutely miserable.

"I see you could use all the help you can get." Eirys says, there are loads of boxes of candles. "I'll take a box. I'm forcing this down Mr. Gold's throat for not helping this year."

Then the most unexpected person comes whistling through the door. "Hey, sister, where can I sign up?"

"You don't want to sell candles." Mary Margaret says, "You made that very clear at Granny's this morning." Not unlikely since Leroy tends to speak his mind about things, and that meant, everything.

"Maybe I saw the light or something." He says glancing over at the conversing sisters. "And by the looks of it, you can use all the help you can get, even if it comes from me."

Mary Margaret sighs frustratedly. "You can help me sell candles, but there will be no swearing, no drinking, and I'm calling all the shots." She shoves a clipboard into his arms and returns to her work.

"Is everything ok?" Without Eirys noticing, Leroy had walked over to a very depressed looking Astrid.  
>She shakes her head. "No, I'm a complete idiot. We get a certain amount as a budget every month, and it's always monitored carefully. Except for the fact that I spent it all, on helium, and we can't pay the rent."<p>

"So you'll make it all up when you get your next stipend." Leroy says.

"The stipend isn't until next month; the rent is due next week." Astrid says. The nuns really did have it hard since the only form of income they really had were the candles they sell on Miner's Day.

"So how do you need to sell?"

"Like a thousand." That might have been an exaggeration, but it did come close. Mr. Gold is not a nice person when it comes to rents. And the nuns don't get much money in the first place.

"How many did you sell last year?"

"Forty-two." Astrid answer. "Most of which, Eirys bought because her electricity blew out around Miner's Day last year."

Yeah, forty-two to a thousand is a very far jump. The other option is possibly begging Mr. Gold to cut them some slack, but even Eirys couldn't get him to do something like that. "And then we'd get kicked out and get reassigned, which means we'll probably have to leave Storybrooke."

"No, you won't."

Mary Margaret glances over at them.

"You want to know why you only sold forty-two last year. Because you didn't have me." It might have been better if Leroy didn't get involved with this project. "This year we're going to sell all of them."

Even Mr. Gold couldn't buy all the candles the nuns had. But Astrid seems happy at the thought of it, so if they could do it, everything should be ok. "Um, this isn't working." Eirys points out as the people walking past the stand doesn't even give them a second look.

"You're right, we should pack it up." Leroy says, even though he wasn't really doing anything in the first place.

Mary Margaret looks at the shorter man. "What, now you're quitting?"

"If the customers aren't coming to us, we go to them." Leroy says. "And since they don't like us, they'll pay us to leave. You can just go your own way." Leroy says to Eirys as if noticing her for the first time. "Unless you want to destroy something to join us."

Eirys rolls her eyes, "I'll go this way and we can meet back here or something." Walking around with boxes of candles, going door-to-door to see if people want any, is not the best way to spend ones day.

"Oh you poor girl, doing this all by yourself." Thank goodness for the old couples in the neighborhood. "We'll take a few, I've got a book club later this week, I need some flowers to brighten up my living room."

"Oh yeah, I can totally arrange something for you." Eirys says tucking the money into her pocket, making a mental note of the order, which she may or may not remember by the time she gets home. "It'll probably be done the day after tomorrow."

Eirys flips open her phone, pushing the number one, the speed dial number for Mr. Gold. "Hey, Mr. Gold are you done with your work yet?"

"I refuse to help you with your candles." Mr. Gold replies, trying to multitask with whatever work he wants to do. "But I suppose I could buy some later."

"Don't worries I already got your usual amount of candles," Eirys says. The phone beeps. "Wow, you're unexpectedly very popular today."

Mr. Gold pushes a button and the line stays quiet for a while. "I'm heading out now, is there anything else you need?" The clicking of his cane on the ground and the brisk pace that he's walking means something interesting must have happened.

"Yeah, do you think you can write something down for me? Write, 'flower arrangement for book club day after tomorrow' and just leave it on my desk." Eirys shuts her phone off before Mr. Gold could refuse her request. "I suppose I should get back soon."

The likelihood that Mary Margaret and Leroy actually sold any of their candles is almost slim to none, which means they would be back at the volunteer center by now. "So, how did everything go?" Eirys gratefully accepts a cup of steaming hot chocolate. "I hope that you were enjoying the cold more than I was."

Mary Margaret looks at the clock. "Well, Leroy lied to Astrid and now he's trying to get the five thousand dollars worth of candles."

"Well, I have a hundred or two here." Eirys says digging the crumpled dollars and checks out of her green coat pocket. "So I guess that's only four thousand and nine hundred dollars left to get?"

_"Saphira what are you doing?" Ivy asks following sleepily after the glowing blue fairy. "It's practically the middle of the night."_

_ Saphira stops, "Nova's running off. I have to go stop her." And then she zooms off as fast as her little wings could carry her. _

_ Ivy just stares at the residual blue light of her friend. "I'm sure Nova knows what she's doing. She's not as clumsy as everyone thinks she is." Ivy returns to her house, crawling under her covers and dozing off again. _

_ Dreamy, the dwarf that Nova spilled fairy dust on. Dreamy and Saphira talking in the forest, Dreamy and a decision with Nova, Dreamy and his dwarf brothers together in the mines, the first time Dreamy and Nova are out together. Images of the earth flow easily into Ivy's head, mixing with her dreams. _

"What are you two doing up here?" Eirys asks, following Mary Margaret up to the roof of some building. "Have you guys been drinking all night?" She could practically taste the alcohol on Mary Margaret's breath.

"Oh, please don't do it, Leroy." Mary Margaret says. Leroy, standing on the edge of the building, drinking plus the compromising situation he's in. Yes, it's very understandable to come to the conclusion that Leroy was going to kill himself.

"I'm not going to kill myself." He replies as if that is the stupidest thing anyone could suggest doing. "What are you crazy? I could hit someone." He's actually worried about hitting someone during his suicide. "Do you know how much damage I could do, I am solidly built?"

Eirys laughs under her breath, "Wait, so what are you doing up here?"

Leroy takes an axe out. "I'm going to get my money."

And before anyone could say anything else, he whacks the electrical box on the lightpost nearest to them. Hence the reason why he was on the roof. In a matter of seconds, all the lights lit for the Miner's Day celebration go dark, leaving its party goers in the dark. "What are you doing?" Mary Margaret asks standing back up after ducking.

"I'm selling candles, sister."

"I'm not giving back my candles when you run out of candles to sell." Eirys says as the people start to mob the empty candle stand. "I think I'll just stand around and look like I didn't have any part of this."

"I wonder what happened tonight." Mr. Gold says popping up behind Eirys. "I was working in my shop when the power went out. I suppose I should buy a candle."

Eirys pulls a yellow cylindrical candle from her bag. "I had to hide them, people are getting crazy for candle because of their way weird black out." She lights it with her own candle. "Happy Miner's Day, Mr. Gold."

_"Stupid snow, I hate this weather." Ivy complains loudly, wrapping her traveling cloak closer around her body as she tramples through layers of underbrush and snow. "I hope they didn't do anything stupid."_

_ Ivy accidentally gets her foot caught in a tree root and with flailing arms, she tumbles out of the forest and down a small slope. Lucky for her, she only slide a few feet, unlucky part is that she slide a few feet in snow. "Hey, are you ok?"_

_ Red is all Ivy can see. "Who are you?"_

_ "Oh, everyone calls me Red," her youthful face starts to appear through Ivy's haze. "And this is, Mary." There is something very familiar about Mary that Ivy didn't have the time to think about. _

_ "Ivy, I'm supposed to guide a hunting party. Or rather I was supposed, last night that is." Ivy explains, getting up and brushing her clothes off. "I got caught up in a small storm and couldn't get here until today. Did anything happen?"_

_ Red shakes her head. "I haven't heard anything, but they did go out last night. The wolf took out a dozen or so cattle. We're just about to head inside, after we get some water, of course."_

_ The three of them walk to a nearby well. "Let me help." Ivy says yanking on the rope attached to the bucket. "It's not frozen is it?"_

_ "No, but it looks kind of weird." Red says, "Hey, Mary, come look at this water." But Mary just stares straight a head of her. "Mary, is something wrong?"_

_ They let go of the rope, letting the oddly red colored water fall back into the well to go and see what Mary's looking at. Red, and more red stains all over the ground, along with weapons and torn off limbs, the bodies of hunters, the hunting party that Ivy was supposed to lead the night before. _

_ "With Ivy, we can have the beast surrounded and we can kill it, at last." It's one of the only survivors of the massacre; he had gone off a different route from the others and was able to escape. "Last night was the last massacre, tonight, we kill it."_

_ "You cannot do that." Red's grandmother says. She walks to the center of the meeting, telling her story of her encounter with the wolf. How the wolf, a different one back when she was a child, tore the throats of her six older brothers and her father. And all she had left in the world to remember then by is the pink scars of the wolf's teeth on her forearm. _

_ "You're granny is kind of intense." Mary says as they sit on Red's wooden bed. Ivy sits cross-legged next to Red and the three of them form a loose circle. _

_ Red nods as if she's used to it. "Yeah, I sometimes feel like a rat in a rat's trap, you know." She glances through the open door to see if Granny had overheard her. _

_ "And you feel like this trap is keeping you from the person you love?" Mary asks. _

_ "Yes, how did you know?"_

_ "Well, there were some very unsubtle exchanges back there." Ivy says simply inspecting the ends of her hair. "Very stealthy, I wouldn't suspect a thing."_

_ Red looks at her cloak. "His name's Peter, we've been friends forever. But lately, it's a bit more. What about you two, anything special in your lives?"_

_ "Besides work and more work?" Ivy asks. "Please, if only I could meet someone interesting. All the ones I know are just, no." The idea of being that close to a male fairy is just impossible, there was no one who caught her eye or stood out from the crowd. Everyone is just like everyone else, just so ordinary. "But if I do, I want someone who is not ordinary." _

_Mary shakes her head. "Not for me either, I don't think that's in my future. You're lucky Red, to have this."_

_Red nods, leaning closer to the center to tell them a secret. "Lately we've been talking about going away together. But I don't know I don't ever get to spend any time with him. "Granny's too scared of the wolf to let me out of her sight. I mean you saw what the wolf did, sometimes I wonder if she's right."_

"_Oh, she's right about the wolf, but she's wrong about using it to keep you here." Mary says. _

_Red glances between the two of them. "Do you think that's what she's doing? We should kill the wolf."_

"_Wait, what are you talking about?" Ivy asks rolling off the bed. "I thought we all concluded that the wolf is very dangerous. What are we going to do up against something that hunting parties can't even take down?"_

"_They hunt at night, if we leave now we can catch it while it's sleeping." Red explains, grabbing her cloak. "Listen, I'm not going to let her lock me in here forever. I'm going to kill it with or without your help."_

"So how are the job searching going, Henry?" Eirys asks popping her head into the empty sheriff's station. "Any luck helping Ruby find a job around here?"

Henry shakes his head, scrolling down on the website. "How about riding a bike and taking things to people in a little basket?"

Ruby shakes her head. "I'm not that good at riding a bike."

"How about going on foot and taking things to people in a little basket." Eirys offers holding up her little empty basket. "Like what I did, I just delivered a flower arrangement."

"I don't think that's a real job." Ruby says. The phone next to her going off again. "Why does the phone keep doing that?" in the time that they have been there, the phone must have gone off quite a bit.

"Non-emergency calls get routed to a machine when Emma's out." Henry explains, going through the list on the computer again.

On the next ring, Ruby takes the phone up. "Hello, sheriff's station how may I help you? Yeah, I'll let her now when she gets back."

There are apparently a lot of things that people call the sheriff's station for, especially the non-emergency stuff that can be solved by simply thinking things through. "Hello, oh, hi Ms. Ginger. No that's not a prowler, that's just Archie's dog, Pongo. Just feed him a vanilla wafer and he'll quiet down. Did you still want to talk to Emma? Ok, glad I could help."

"How's it going you guys?" Emma asks making her presence noticed.

"Except, I can't do anything." Ruby explains her heading falling backwards.

"That's not true, I just saw you with the telephone." Emma says, even though Ruby just shakes her head as if it were nothing. "I've got some money left in the budget if you want to help out a little."

"Oh, yes, please." Ruby says standing up. "I can do things like answer the phone and help out. Is there anything else you need done, organize, file, cleaning up? Please let me be useful."

"Well I'm swamped with this Kathryn Nolan case so if you don't mind getting lunches, I would never say no to a grilled cheese." Emma says.

Ruby starts to head to the door. "Want anything Henry?"

"He ate at school, I remember because I made sandwiches." Eirys cuts in before Henry can ask for some junk food that his mother wouldn't let him eat on any other day. "But I could go for a hot chocolate if you don't mind."

Mary Margaret stumbles in through the door. "You want anything, I'm buying?" Ruby asks. Mary Margaret shakes her head and Ruby leaves.

"David's in the woods, something's wrong with him." Mary Margaret says. "I mean, he just looked right through me, like he couldn't even see me. It's like he was a different person."

Emma and Henry trade looks; this has something to do with Henry's story book. Which means that they are going to do something about it?

"_I found another one." Ivy calls to the other two girls. They had been following large dog looking footprints through the snow. And speaking of snow, it had started to fall, dusting the tops of their heads with the wet white powder. "They look kind of strange, don't they?"_

_Red inspects the footprint, "it almost looks like its half wolf, half boot print."_

"_That's not normal." Mary says, even her clueless tracking skills could tell her that much. _

"_No it's not." Red agrees as they follow the bloody foot prints. "It's like it back half wolf, half man." _

_Ivy stops walking. "Aren't we getting awfully close to the cottage?" By then, the animal prints had totally turned into human boot prints. And over the fresh snow is a single trail of footprints straight to Red's window. "Red, could it be Peter?"_

_One look at her face confirms it, "Red, has he been at your window?" Mary asks. _

"_Last night, before the killings." Red explains. "He didn't join the other guys in the hunt."_

"_I'm sure he wouldn't ever hurt you." Ivy reassures. "But when the wolf takes over, there's no telling what he's capable of."_

"_What about tonight's hunting party?" Mary asks because despite Granny's warning, they will still go out and try to hunt the wolf. The massacre the night before fuels their anger and their will to fight. _

"_They're going to kill him." Red says, "Or they're going to be killed by him." Either way, people were going to die. "What should we do?"_

"_Tell him." Mary says, turning towards Red. "If he doesn't know, tell him, if he trusts anyone it's you."_

"_You think I can save him?"_

"_You can save everyone." Mary states. _

_Only Ivy seems to have misgivings about this theory about the wolf, but Mary and Red seem totally convinced about it. "It'll be dark soon, and Granny will worry if we don't return soon."_

"_Oh, this is so bad." Red mumbles, she seemed to be dealing with the shock of Peter being the wolf quite well. "Oh, Mary, Ivy, this is really bad."_

"_Then do something about it." Mary says, the final push to help Red do what she needs to do to save everyone. _

Henry slides his story book into a draw in the computer desk, locking it up tight. "You know you could let Ruby do a little more, she's Little Red Riding Hood." With her name and the fact that she wears quite a bit of red, she could be Little Red Riding Hood.

"The one with the little basket?" Emma asks, obviously not totally buying the fact that Ruby is Little Red Riding Hood. "Yeah, she's totally BA."

"She is, but she just forgot how cool she can be." Henry says leaving just as Ruby is coming back with Emma's food, drinks, and a small Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate.

"Hey is something wrong?" Eirys asks taking a sip of the cooled hot chocolate. Ruby doesn't appear to be as cheerful as she was when she left to go get the food in the first place.

Ruby shrugs, taking a sip out of the straw of one of the drinks. "I'm just picking up food like I always do. It's what I know best, after all."

Emma seems to come to a conclusion about something. "How about we pack things up and eat in the car. I need to do a little wilderness search and I need your help."

Emma snatches the drink out of Ruby's mouth as she hurriedly packs everything up. "I'm sure I'm just going to mess everything up like I always do." Ruby says.

"No you won't."

"Good luck you two." Eirys says heading out the door. "Thanks for the hot chocolate, Ruby!"

"_Wait, hold on let me get this straight, Red is the wolf?" Ivy repeats stomping through the forest with a lantern right behind Granny and Mary. _

"_Yes, her mother was the wolf until a hunting party killed her, I had hoped that it skipped over her, but when she turned thirteen it started." Granny explains. "I paid a wizard for that cloak, it keeps her from transforming, but of course she doesn't wear it and she's found a way out of the house." _

"_Then what about that story you told?" Mary asks. _

"_That was her grandfather, he marked me that night." Granny says and everything falls into place. The way it all started, Granny and Red's mother must share the same genes. "I'm tracking her by smell; I still have it while the rest of it has faded." _

_Ivy points through the trees. "I think she's over there." Granny nods handing Mary her lantern. "Are we going to kill her?"_

"_Silver tipped arrow will drop her." Granny says raising the bow she carried. "We're approaching from the down slope so we should have a chance." They creep slowly through the snow, the sounds of Red feeding on Peter grows louder as they appear out of the forest to the clearing. _

_Mary accidentally steps on a twig lying hazardously on the ground, giving away their element of surprise. Thankfully, Granny is a good shot and they manage to get Red under the red cloak, turning her back into a human. "What happened, where am I?"_

"_Granny, look over there." Ivy points to the red flickers through the trees, the hunting party's torches, heading straight towards them. "We have to get her out of here."_

"So, they made up and you are back to being your lonely self?" Eirys concludes after hearing the story from Emma about Ruby going back to the diner. "I'm sure everything turned out ok, they get along quite well, most of the time. So, did you guys find David?"

"Yeah, well, he kind of hit his head." Emma says. "But Dr. Whales said that he's going to be ok. He might have to go to Archie for some memory stuff."

Eirys nods. "It seems to be happening to him quite a bit, you know with the coma thing and now this. Well, I hope he gets better; give him my regards if you see him?"

"Sure."


	13. The Case

_"So, she drank the potion," Ivy says pacing around the dwarves' house, trying to make sense of the story the dwarves just told her. "And then she changed and became very moody and angry, right?" _

_ Grumpy and the other dwarves nod. "So we called Jiminy the cricket to come have a talk with her."_

_ "In which she said that she was better off as this new mean Snow," Ivy says continuing her pacing. "Which means she's clearly not who we thought she was. And then comes this little problem that I have. Why did you guys call me?"_

_ "What?"_

_ "Why did you call for me to come here? Shouldn't you be looking for Snow out there?" Ivy demands slamming her hand on the table. "She did say that she was going to go and kill the Queen, right?"_

_ "Why thought that you would know the best way to stop her." Happy says, though he doesn't seem very happy at the moment. I suppose this new Snow White had the amazing ability of making even the happiest people angry and frustrated, how wonderful. "Besides, we all have work to do."_

_ "Right, well, I should get to work then, shouldn't I." Ivy says walking out the door, the sun is just starting to set, casting long shadows on the ground. "After all, we don't know just how much Snow has changed because of this potion, but, I don't think she learned how to do magic yet." She raises her arms towards the sky letting her breathing become the same as the trees, letting her shoulders relax like the green grass of the hills, and opening her mind become as vast as the earth itself_

_ It's an ability that all earth style fairies could use, if their powers were of a certain level. This type of magic is very advanced and takes up a lot of energy. If a fairy isn't careful, she could burn out her entire magic power source attempting it. _

_Linking herself to the earth is like seeing to world through the eyes of the trees, feeling the cool water racing through its body from its roots, swaying back and forth in the wind, and watching a young princess walk through the forest with a dwarf axe over one shoulder and a knapsack over the other. "Did you find her?" Grumpy asks, as darkness starts to come over the forest. _

_ Ivy nods, her head swimming from the amount of magic that just left her body. She had used the ability once or twice before and they always left her feeling like she should be sleeping for the next month or so. "Yeah, and she's waiting for one of the Queen's knights. She's going to kill the Queen." _

"What exactly are we doing right now?" Eirys asks watching Emma inspect the door, rubbing the wood around the locks and the handle. "Shouldn't we be trying to prove that Mary Margaret didn't kill Kathryn?"

"That's what we're going to do, see if you notice anything that could be the result of a break in." Emma says walking over to a window and wiggling the lock. "If someone's setting her up, then we have to find out how they got her jewelry box."

"Hey, Emma, Eirys, what's up." Henry asks walking into the little apartment room with his school bag over his shoulder. "Need any help helping Mary Margaret?"

Eirys wipes dust off the kitchen windowsill. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Well, I'm not going," Henry says stubbornly. "We have to help Ms. Blanchard."

Emma submits to his demands and walks to the window closest to Mary Margaret's bed. "Even if we find a way someone could get in, no one has a motive to set Mary Margaret up."

"My mom does," Henry says.

"Regina? What does she have against Mary Margaret, besides giving you that story book?" Eirys asks collapsing on Mary Margaret's bed.

Henry shrugs. "She hates Snow White." Not that that would mean anything in court as Emma mentions. It's only in that frustrated silence that there is a mysterious clanking noise.

"I never knew she had this here." Eirys says lifting the little cage over the heating vent in her room. "Do you see anything?"

Emma reaches into the hole and pulls something wrapped in cloth. She carefully takes the cloth off, revealing a very sharp hunting knife. "This is not good."

Eirys rubs her head. "I need a drink, with alcohol, or something." She grabs her jacket on the way out. There's always a first for everything, including getting drunk in the middle of the day which is how Mr. Gold found his friend when she stumbles into his shop.

"I didn't even know you owned alcohol." Mr. Gold says bringing her a glass of water. "Try to drink some of that, it might lessen the hang over you're going to have in the morning."

"Mary Margaret is accused of murder, and it's my entire fault." Eirys says through a drunken haze. The only thing she knew for sure is the fact that she is currently laying on her couch in her house. "How did I get here?"

Mr. Gold pulls a chair up next to her. "I brought you here after you passed out in my store, very gracefully I might add. So, about this case with Ms. Blanchard?"

"Oh yeah, if only I had told her to stay away from David none of this would have happened." Eirys rants on even though she didn't find out until very late in their relationship. "I should have tied her to a chair every morning; instead I was sitting here with you drinking tea."

"I can't imagine drinking tea with Ms. Blanchard would be very interesting in the first place." Mr. Gold adds. "Perhaps I could help with the legal counseling. It's my practice after all."

Eirys blinks at him. "You would do that for her? You're such a good friend." She swings her arms around his neck. "We should celebrate with drinks!"

"Sorry, but I have to visit my client." Mr. Gold says pushing the drunken woman away from him. "I'm also going to throw away all of your alcohol." Of course, he had to find it first.

"Good luck with that." Eirys says starting to doze off. "See you in the morning?" and she was gone before Mr. Gold could even reply. He wraps her in a thin blanket and locks the door behind him.

_"And you just helped her?" Ivy asks, it's incredible on how much this man just could not understand the delicate balance of events. It only adds to her exhaustion from the magic she performed not too long ago. "You know she's going to kill the Queen right?"_

_ "Well, of course I know that." He says simply, polishing a golden platter which he had managed to take from King Midas's castle. "I gave her the potion after all, you were there as well."_

_ Ivy throws her arms up in the air. "I give up on this; I don't know how this situation could get any worse. There is nothing worse than a crazy Snow who's off to make the worst mistake in her life."_

_ As if the situation planned on becoming worse, another unexpected visitor comes banging through the castle. "Ah, one moment, dearie." Bae says disappearing down the hall towards the entrance of his extravagant castle. _

_ He returns in a few minutes, having finished his business with the customer. He never got visitors, expect for Ivy. "Nice cloak," Ivy says noticing the new addition to Bae's attire. "A payment for a deal of some kind?"_

_ Bae twirls around in it. "But of course, I was thinking I could use a nice fur cloak. For the winter time, it's quite chilly during that time of the year, you know?"_

_ "So, who did you make the deal with?" Ivy asks. The fur looks like it actually came from some poor animal's hide. "Someone rich perhaps? Like a prince?" no wonder the cloak looked so familiar. "Like Prince James, what did he want from you?"_

_ Bae shrugs. "Just a little something about Snow White and trying to stop her from killing the Queen, it's such a shame, I've invested quite a bit into that girl." _

_ "So, you don't want me to go out there and stop Snow White?" Ivy asks, this may be the first time the two of them were on clearly opposing sides. "Is it because I gave you that slice of pumpkin pie that one time?"_

_ "Let's just say that I have a little score to settle with the Queen." Bae explains setting the cloak onto his desk. "Well, either way, I have a little experiment to conduct, so if you'll please." He points towards the door. _

_ Ivy casts him a suspicious glance. "Just what are you up to anyways?" But heads towards her room, she deserved a good rest. _

_ "Nothing that you need to concern yourself with, my dear." He replies holding a magnifying glass to his eye, inspecting the fur cloak. "But the results will be, most rewarding, I'm sure."_

_ Whatever that meant, Bae had the most peculiar way of explaining himself sometimes. Or maybe he said it in such a way that purposely confused her. Ivy wanders back to the room Bae had set aside for her own uses. Not that she really spent much time in the room. _

_ Despite her initial worry about Snow and Prince James, she got the feeling that everything would be alright. Especially since all curses can be broken with true love's kiss. No, the whole situation with Snow no longer plagued her mind. What was on her mind is the experiment Bae is carrying out in the other room. Curiouser and curiouser things were getting. _

"Are you sure the tests are right?" Eirys asks glancing at the sheets of paper for the results of the heart analysis. "How are you going to tell Mary Margaret? She's going to be crushed."

Emma shrugs, folding the results and putting them back into its envelope. "I don't know, but we're going to go ahead with the case." Which didn't bode well for the elementary school teacher. "Do you know if Mr. Gold is still there?"

"He's always working." Eirys replies getting ready to close up. She glances out the window towards the pawn shop which is still dimly lit. "Yeah, he's still there. What business do you have with him?"

"Something that I hope will help Mary Margaret." Emma says heading towards the pawn shop and to probably make a deal with the infamous deal maker. Now, being a deal maker doesn't mean Mr. Gold has to be loyal to one party or the other.

Eirys just stares at him over her teacup. "You don't seem too worried by the fact that you're basically double-crossing Emma, which doesn't help Mary Margaret at all."

"She came back, eventually, no one got hurt." Mr. Gold states simply. "Expect for Regina's pride, so technically, let sleeping dogs lie, correct?" He gives her a look that screams 'Don't say a word and no one gets hurt' which meant that he was glaring at her.

A glare that Eirys chooses to ignore. "But there's always that possibility that she wouldn't have come back and how did Emma even find her, that forest is dense. People get lost in there all the time."

"You've never complained about my choices before." Mr. Gold says taking a sip of his tea. Sometimes, when he felt like it, he would purposely say things that would get on the young woman's nerves.

"I never complain about who you do sneaky shady deals with." Eirys counters rolling her eyes. "I just let other people talk about your secret relationship with Regina behind your backs."

"We do not have a secret relationship." Mr. Gold says disgusted by the thought of it. The idea that someone could deal with an attitude like Regina's is quite surprising, but the mayor does have a few friends. Or at least she has people who are loyal to her. "Not even close."

They were heading down that road again, a road that would lead them to stop talking altogether for a few weeks and then pretend as if nothing had happened. "I'm going to start ignoring you again."

The clock puts an end to their time before Mr. Gold can make any words against her statement, which meant that the next morning, he will find her doors locked until she decides to stop ignoring him. "Well, I have to be going; I have a meeting with my client." He downs the rest of his tea and quickly walks out the door.

"Eirys, are you here?" Ashley arrives for work not too long after. She looks as tired as any newlywed would be. "I'm back!"

Ashley and her boyfriend, now husband, had gone on a very delayed honeymoon due to their busy schedules. "Well, I'm glad you're back." Eirys says giving the girl a hug. "I can't believe you got married, I feel so old now."

"Oh, don't worry about it." Ashley says getting her apron on. "Besides, it's not you're that old anyways, you still have time to find someone."

Eirys glances at the clock. "I'm going to take a short walk down by the pier, clear my head of a few things. Here are the keys to cashier and don't let Mr. Gold in." Eirys grabs a dark green pea coat on her way out. It's actually quite a walk from her store to the pier; she's almost out of breath by the time she gets there. "Emma, are you drinking that?"

Emma hands the worn out woman her drink. "Should I be asking why you walked all the way down here?" Next to her is a man that Eirys has never seen before, he actually might be that stranger who came to town not too long ago.

"Don't worry, I just had to argue with Mr. Gold for a bit." Eirys says as if it weren't that big of a deal. "So, who's your friend?"

"I'm August." He says sticking his hand out for a shake. He has the normal white male built, no more than a couple years older than Emma. His blue eyes contrast nicely against his brown hair. There's probably a little something going on between Emma and August. "I came here for some inspiration for a piece that I'm writing."

Eirys gives him a hearty shake making sure to keep an eye on his relationship with Emma. "Are you here to write about the Mary Margaret case?" She points to the open newspaper Emma's currently holding, on the front it a large picture of Mary Margaret.

August shakes his head, but give no other information about is occupation. "I was just telling Emma that when I have a writer's block, sometimes I go back to my first inspiration and start rewriting."

"Oh, and then you can head down a different path with new ideas and end up with something different." Eirys says catching on. "So you get a different perspective about the story. Is there supposed to be some sort of relevant context to this conversation?"

"Well, when Emma started this investigation, it was about a missing person, which later became a murder." August says bringing the talk back to the source of Mary Margaret's case. "And then it became a cover-up, maybe if you knew that then, you would approach things differently."

Emma seems to have an epiphany after August's statement. "I need to go back to the scene of the crime."

"I'll drive." August offers. "You haven't slept in days."

"I could also use a ride back to my store." Eirys says rushing to catch up with the two. "Or I could go with you, either or is fine with me." She was going to owe Ashley an apology for leaving her alone at the store all the time.

Emma glances at her. "I could actually use all the help I can get, everything I've tried just leads to a dead end. And I don't really trust his driving skills right now." As it turns out, August drives a motorcycle mixed in with Emma's trust issues; it's reasonable why she doesn't trust him to drive.

Eirys catches Emma's tossed keys and plugs them into the yellow beat-up bug. "So, we're heading for the Toll Bridge?"

It's a silent drive to the bridge, Emma finally taking the time rest her eyes. "Are you ok?" Eirys asks August when he suddenly winces as they go down the hill to the area where Ruby found the heart.

August nods. "Just some shin splints, let me walk it off for a bit."

"This must be really hard for you, Emma." Eirys says suddenly. "I mean, not that I know everything about you, but you and Mary Margaret seem to be really good friends. Probably even better friends than Mary Margaret and I."

Emma just plows forward inspecting the hole where the jewelry box was found. "Hey, check this out." She pulls something out of the hole. "It's a piece of a shovel; it must have broken off when it hit a rock or something." She hands it to Eirys.

Eirys turns it over in her hand. "So, if we find the shovel that this piece belongs to, then we found the person who buried the heart and clear Mary Margaret's name." She passes the piece to August.

"And I bet you know exactly where to start." August says which meant only one starting point, Regina's own garage.

"_Why do you hate Snow White so much?" Ivy asks the Queen just as she was released. It is a risky move since the Queen can imprison her again without the promise of release. _

_The Queen turns to face her mirror, and for once, the Genie doesn't appear to stare back at her. "Snow White ruined my life." She says bitterly. "She couldn't keep the secret that I told her."_

"_So you couldn't get your happy ending which is why you're going to destroy everyone else's?" Ivy guesses though the Genie did tell her a couple of juicy pieces of information just because he loved to gloat about the Queen's beauty and wisdom. _

"_I'm going to make her pay." The Queen says clearly already plotting her revenge on the world, especially on Snow White and that terrible secret that she couldn't keep._

_Ivy quietly ducks out of the Queen's room before she became the victim of the Queen's wrath. "Hey, Genie, what's this secret that the Queen's talking about?" She taps a nearby mirror knowing that the Genie had heard everything. _

"_I don't know everything about her you know." The Genie says appearing in his usual blue hue. "But I do know that she keeps some ring in a little box in her desk. "It's not something I would ever give her; I would give her something more precious."_

_Ivy just nods and decides to slide away as the Genie goes off on a tangent about his love for the Queen. If one ever wanted to know about the Queen's favorite color, the Genie would be the one to talk to. He's always keeping track of the Queen's likes and dislikes. _

"So it's gone?" Eirys asks consoling the sheriff on her cell phone while munching on a piece of celery. "And you're sure it was there when you went to check last night?"

"Of course I'm sure." Emma says totally frustrated beyond belief. "Did you tell anyone about the piece of shovel?"

Eirys thinks back to the day before. "Well, I would have told Mary Margaret if she was accepting phone calls, and right now Mr. Gold and I aren't talking, so I don't think so." She had gone back to her store after finding the piece of shovel and decided to close up shop early. That evening, she sat in her bathtub mulling over her relationship with Mr. Gold with a bucket of chocolate ice cream. "Maybe you told someone else about it?"

"You mean besides you and August?" Emma asks.

Eirys shifts through her receipt box, suddenly having the extra time to do small things. This is what Mr. Gold probably did in his free time when he wasn't restoring old artifacts or working on another deal. "Maybe you talked about it too loudly in the café or when you thought you were alone, something like that? I'm sure August didn't do it."

"Maybe, maybe not." Emma says. "Either way, I'm going to go talk to him." And she's pretty pissed off right now, which would mean that August is in for a very unpleasant encounter.

Eirys nods not wishing to be in August's boots at the moment. "Well, I guess you can always enjoy the flowers Sydney got you." She reads flowers off the receipt. "You two must be good friends. We can talk about it at the café."

Eirys wasn't in the mood to make tea in the mornings; having tea in her house is too lonely and Ashley wouldn't be coming for at least an hour. "You were right." Emma says once Eirys pulls up by Granny's café.

"Excuse me?" Eirys glances between Emma and August who were in the middle of talking before she arrived. "Am I missing something here?"

Emma holds up the evidence bag in her hand. "I trusted all the wrong people and I started to doubt myself and you guys." Upon closer inspection, the bag held what appeared to be a broken bug, the kinds people use to eavesdrop on others.

Their heartwarming moment is broken by a bloodcurdling screech just behind the café. Without a second guess, the three of them run down the small sidewalk towards the back, running into a hysterical Ruby. "Ruby, are you alright?" Eirys asks.

"She's just lying in the alley." Is all Ruby can get out. Emma and August rush towards the alley, probably expecting the worst. "I thought she was dead."

Eirys hugs the crying girl. "Let's go see if Emma found something ok?" The two of them turn the corner and see the last thing they expected to see. "Kathryn, is that you?" the supposed 'dead' person was actually a living Kathryn Nolen.

Despite the massive amounts of questions surrounding the mystery of Kathryn's sudden reappearance some good things did come out of it. One, Mary Margaret wasn't going to jail. Two, Kathryn isn't dead. And three, Eirys finally had a good reason to talk to Mr. Gold again.

The down side to everything is the questions surrounding Kathryn's disappearance and how she got from the edge of town to the alley behind the café. And it all goes back to the simple idea of someone framing Mary Margaret.

"I never expected to hear from you so soon." Mr. Gold says clearly enjoying his tea. "What made you change your mind?"

Eirys shrugs. "It's all so mysterious, first her disappearance and now her reappearance. At least Mary Margaret isn't in jail anymore." After getting over the initial shock of finding Kathryn, Eirys could hardly think of anything else. It's going to be the buzz of the little town soon.


	14. Magic?

"You should invest in cooking lessons." Eirys says coming back to their table with another plate of deliciously homemade French toast. "Or maybe you could go to Granny's sometime; you're going to eat me out of my house."

Mr. Gold puts half of the freshly made French toast onto his plate, drenching them in some nice maple syrup. "It's too much work. I am a busy man after all." It wasn't totally untrue; he had been busy the past few days with the whole Mary Margaret business. And then with Kathryn Nolen showing up 100% not dead, well, it was easy to say that things were getting kind of sticky.

Eirys puts her hands on her hips. Perhaps saying that he was busy trying to convict her friend wasn't the best thing to say. "Don't even think about going there, Mr. Gold. You better apologize to her." She pours another cup of spice tea, which went very well to dampen the sweetness of his breakfast. "I'm going to start charging you for food. Do you know how much money I spend on you?"

"You don't have to do anything." Mr. Gold says, his stomach finally satisfied, but he knows that if he asked for it, Eirys would feed him again. She wouldn't just let him starve in his pawn shop all day. Or she would and when he stumbles into her place after not eating a while, she'd just throw her arms up in submission and make him something to eat. "But I really must be going." The grandfather clock was nearing nine, and he would like to avoid meeting up with that Ashley Boyd character if he could help it. There was always this awkward tension when he accidentally stays too late and they happen to meet. "Have a good day."

"Highly doubtful," Eirys says staring at the dreary sky. Mr. Gold did read somewhere that certain people were more tuned to nature than others. They got visibly depressed when there was a lack of sun. Eirys was obviously one of these people. She sighs and slowly starts to get the shop ready for any potential customers who would venture out of the warm homes to buy flowers. "You're going to come tonight, right?"

Tonight, what was happening tonight? "Oh, Miss. Blanchard's welcome home party?" He was only 'friends' with Mary Margaret because Eirys was friends with Mary Margaret, if not, then he would really rather not have anything to do with the school teacher. Eirys tends to drag all of her friends around her to do things together, whether they actually like one another or not. She's probably the one who asked if Mr. Gold could be invited as well, and they're just too nice to say no.

"What do you think I should get her?" Eirys asks. She was always a planning type of person, all organized with everything. Sure the whole, Mary Margaret didn't kill Kathryn Nolen thing was kind of unexpected and surprising, but she had plenty of time to find a good present. "I could make a nice bouquet for her."

"I think she would prefer something to eat." Mr. Gold suggests hoping that Eirys would think of something sweet like cookies or banana bread. Not that Mr. Gold had any affinity for such things in the first place.

Eirys gives him a look that says that she knows what he's aiming for and she's not falling for it. "I'll make punch, and I'll get her a new jewelry box from your store. It cam be a collaboration since we're all friends."

"Yes, well, I'll have a look around and see if anything seems…suitable for Miss. Blanchard." Mr. Gold says finally leaving store when the grandfather clock chimes the hour.

Ashley brings Alexandra to the store and they kind of make a day of it. Despite the early morning's storm, the weather outside isn't particularly nice. "I hear classical music stimulates baby's brains, makes them smarter." Ashley explains swaying to the soft music filtering in from the CD player. "The doctor says that it's surprising that she babbles so much, but it can't be a bad thing."

"She is going to be a wonderful little girl." Eirys says fixing and refixing the positions of the flowers she was arranging. It's not often that she had commissions for flower arrangements, which meant she had a lot of time to practice for friends. "You think this will be good?"

Nothing seemed to be big enough to match the amount of relief Eirys felt when Mary Margaret was finally released from jail. This party had to have an amazing centerpiece and an even better punch. "Maybe you should spike it?" Leave it to Ashley to voice the idea that's on everyone's mind.

"I can't, Henry's going to be there." Darn that little ten-year old, but perhaps it was a good thing. Eirys knew for a fact that Ruby would be there, and that girl should not be allowed to throw parties where alcohol is involved, bad things happen. "Regina would kill me if anything like Henry accidentally getting drunk at a party that she doesn't even want him to go to happens."

And Regina can basically do anything get away with it. She's got her hands down some very deep pockets; Emma's even flirting with the idea that Regina has something to do with the whole Kathryn Nolen disappearance and the framing of Mary Margaret. "You and Regina seem to be really good friends." Eirys says looking at the antique stuff that Mr. Gold has around his shop.

Mr. Gold laughs in his usual way as if he really didn't find her statement amusing, so she's never sure if he actually thinks it amusing or not. "I wouldn't go so far as to say that we're friends." He a tricky one, Mr. Gold, but he really did have some nice stuff. "What do you know about that stranger?"

"Who? August?" There have only been one or two strangers in Storybrooke since, like, forever, and Emma's one of them. "He's a writer, I don't really know anything besides that, and he's also friends with Emma." If Mr. Gold has an interest in August, that's the perfect way to get him to go to the welcome back party for Mary Margaret. "He's going to be at Mary Margaret's party."

Mr. Gold gives her a look that says he knows what she's planning. "Well, since I have nothing better to do." He must really want to know about August. Something must have happened between the two of them, but then again, a lot of things happen with Mr. Gold and inside Mr. Gold's pawn shop.

Sometimes when Eirys is really bored, she'd watch the people who go in and out of the shop. Recently it's mostly been Emma and Regina; both of them usually stomp out of there in frustration, and they never buy anything. Tricky Mr. Gold, always playing both sides of the game and always coming out on top.

The party is not the most exciting party but it's homey and delivers the right atmosphere to welcome Mary Margaret home. "I can't believe all these people are here just to welcome home." Mary Margaret says, watching Eirys pour her punch in small crystal looking cups.

"You have a lot of friends." Eirys says simply as Mary Margaret goes to serve her friends with the punch. Everyone seems happy, talking amongst themselves, Mr. Gold hiding beneath the stairs because he's too shy to come out and say that he's glad that Mary Margaret didn't kill Kathryn Nolen. Ok, so that is just wishful thinking but one can never really know with Mr. Gold as a friend.

"Hey, I have something for you." Henry says after some urging from August, something obviously going on between the two of them. Something along the plotting lines.

"Well, thank you." Henry gives Mary Margaret a large red card, presumably made by the rest of Mary Margaret's students, and he has a little rectangular present. "'We're so glad you didn't kill Mrs. Nolen'" she reads. This earns a laugh from the entire group.

"You should come out from under here, once in a while you know." Eirys says poking her head under the stairs. It appears to be the only place in the entire apartment that is relatively hidden.

Mr. Gold nudges Eirys to give Mary Margaret their collaborated present. Besides the fact that Eirys was the one who actually paid for the present, wrapped it, and then dutifully wrote a long letter about their undying friendship on some nice stationary. "Henry's not the only one with the great ideas."

"Speaking of which, I think we should get you home before your mom finds out." Emma says steering Henry towards the door. Eirys almost misses the shared glance between August and Henry, those two, are without a doubt, up to something.

Mary Margaret seems to be enjoying the collaborated present, or at least, Eirys thinks she is before she sees David at the door. Unfortunately for the troubled guy, Emma is the one to answer the door. "Are you sure you still don't want to talk to him?" Eirys asks softly so the other guests don't feel bad for him. Apparently no one else saw David's rejection from the party.

"Just a while longer." Mary Margaret assures, which means that Mary Margaret is going to ignore him as long as possible until they unfortunately happen to bump into each other. "More punch?" or David goes out of his way to talk to her because she's blatantly ignoring him.

Mr. Gold seems to have made his move away from the area under stairs and talking to Emma. By the direction he's pointing in, he's probably asking her about August. Now, what exactly did August do to make Mr. Gold so interested in him? Another thing that Eirys will have to keep an eye on.

Things between Mr. Gold and August have gotten slightly out of hand in Eirys's eyes. "So, you're going to 'carefully observe' him based on a hunch you have?" Now, Eirys may sometimes be called simpleminded, but she is not stupid. Mr. Gold almost never tells her the entire truth when he's about to do something…shifty. And right now, it looks like he's going to do something shifty, which means he's hiding something from her.

"I just want to know what he's up to here." Mr. Gold says simply, lying between his teeth. He drinks his tea quickly and silently stashes some scones in his pocket. Eirys sometimes wonders if Mr. Gold underestimates her or just assumes that she is really that naïve and dense about the world. "I just came to tell you not to expect me for the rest of the day."

"_Do you know how to get rid of magic, powers?" Bae asks suddenly. The two friends were lazing on a grassy hill. Nothing to do, nothing needing to be done, and nothing happening. _

_Ivy glances over at him. "I suppose magic could get rid of magic, negate it somehow. But why would you want to do that?" Ivy couldn't think of life without hearing the melodies of the trees and the soft whispers of the mountains. Of course there were aspects of her power that she would love to live without, hearing silence in places where music used to sing for one. _

"_Just a thought." Bae says simply. Returning to staring up at the sky, watching the clouds roll by without a care in the world. "I once had a so—a friend—I changed once I got these powers. He wanted them gone." Ivy knew what Bae was talking about. _

_He'd sometimes get very, intense? His anger fueling his need for more power, and he doesn't always keep that under control. Most days he's just silly and goofy like he usually is, and others, he just disappears to do things that Ivy might find questionable. _

_Ivy didn't know much about his past or where he came from, but she did know that he didn't like talking about it. He'd get very quiet and sad, the type of sad that came from loosing someone more important than a friend. "Where is your friend now?" _

_Bae shakes his head. "I don't know." _

"_I could give you advice on where to look for him. Even if fairies don't help humans, we always try to part some advice onto others." Ivy says recalling something like this in a book she once read in school. "To help educate humans about good and dark magic."_

_Bae nods along with it, having heard the words before whenever Ivy had to talk to a human. "I don't think he's part of this world anymore, but he's out there." This person, whoever he is, must have somehow transcended the boundaries of their world and passed into another. There is limited magic that could allow such a thing to happen. "You wouldn't know of where I could get a magic bean, would you?"_

"_A magic bean?" Their magical properties are very rare, even the fairies have problems getting a hold of them. "I know that some are distributed amongst the fairy godmothers. In case they come across someone with a dire need for magic. But I think Saphira already gave hers away."_

"_Oh really?" he doesn't sound too surprised by it. The Blue Fairy name is famous throughout the lands as the most influential and magical fairy in all the lands. Her name is spoken as a name of legends and stories, a name passed down from generation to generation, the legacy growing with each passing year. But what no one usually suspects is the passage of the name to only the brightest and most powerful gift granting fairies. "She wouldn't happen to know where the bean takes people, now would she?"_

_Ivy shrugs, "Who really knows the power of those beans?" Who really knew how many worlds were out there, coexisting parallel with their world. Worlds with magic, worlds without magic, and worlds that have even stranger things that their own. "Are you trying to find your friend?"_

_Bae glances back at her. His large dark eyes were slightly watery and little redder from unshed tears. "Always." There is a final sounding tone to his voice and it ends the entire conversation. "Do you know how to get from this world to another?"_

"_Some magically portal maybe?" Ivy says. "I don't really know too much about that type of magic, perhaps asking someone with greater capabilities than myself." There are only a handful of people who even possess magic, let alone greater magic than a fairies or Bae's own. Another option could be to ask the Queen, but she could never agree to leaving this world unless something happens to make her. _

"_What about a curse?"_

_Naïve little fairy, that's what she is. Ivy thinks about it. "It can work, I suppose. But there are always other options than dark magic. You're smart, Bae, I'm sure you'll figure something out."_

_Bae seems to have something on his mind as they return to their contemplation of the shapes of the clouds above them. But then again, there seems to always be something on his mind, or at least, Ivy seemed to think he did. But as she had said before, he was a smart person; he'll know not to do something stupid like that. _

Eirys may not really seem like it, but she's a worrier. She worries like no other. The only reason why people tend to not know about this worrying is because she usually frets within the boundaries of her own home, which usually includes pacing back and forth, massive cleaning sprees, and the habit of talking to herself. Eirys does all three until she sees the headlights of Mr. Gold's car pulling up in the parking lot outside her shop. "Are you ok? No broken bones, right?"

Mr. Gold pushes past her fussy hands. "I'm fine, just very tired." He seems to have had an adventure since the last time Eirys saw him. "And I'm hungry."

"Well, I have sandwiches, and soup, and tea." Eirys says, and Mr. Gold had realized a bit too late in their friendship that she really did only eat sandwiches. It seemed to be her favorite food for lunch and dinner despite her apparently ability to cook and bake. "Here, sit down and then you can tell me exactly what you've been up to."

Mr. Gold doesn't resist, even though he really doesn't like those sandwiches. "He went to the nuns." Mr. Gold really did not like the nuns, something he didn't even try to hide. And Eirys knew from past experience that he would not tell her why; just give her a cryptic answer like he always does. "Then I talked to Dr. Hopper, and then I met Mr. August Booth at my little cottage."

"Why would you need to talk to Archie?" Really? She had to go and ask that question. It's usually not difficult to talk to her, she'd just receive all the information he told her as fact, because she never assumes a need for him to lie to her. Not that he makes it a thing to lie to her on a daily basis or anything like that. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"Of course not, why would you think that?" Mr. Gold asks rhetorically drinking his soup. "But as it turns out, Mr. Booth isn't as interesting as I first believed him to be." But Mr. Gold seems slightly disappointed with that fact for some reason.

Eirys mindlessly refills Mr. Gold's bowl, it's like second nature by now, "Oh, while you were gone, Sydney confessed to kidnapping Kathryn and trying to frame Mary Margaret. It all seems very strange though. You know, too convenient or something like that."

"Yes, how very interesting." Mr. Gold agrees, like he doesn't really believe that whole story about Sydney being the bad guy. Emma and Mary Margaret don't seem to believe it either, both of them still thinking its Regina, but without any real proof, everything is circumstantial. "And this new business with Henry."

"You heard as well?" Words get around quite easily in a small town like Storybrooke, and Mr. Gold seems to have ears everywhere even when he's not here. And it's not like he has his contacts coming into his store, Eirys would know that for sure. "Emma wants custody of Henry; did she come to you for legal advice on it?"

Mr. Gold shrugs. "Sort of. Though I haven't done anything yet, and Regina is not happy."

"Well you are going to help her, Emma, right?" Eirys asks. Mr. Gold shrugs again, not committing himself to a single side at the moment. "You keep thinking about it. Do you want to go visit the school tomorrow? Welcome Mary Margaret back?"

"I think I've had enough celebrations for a while." He replies getting ready to leave. "See you tomorrow."

"_I don't suppose you need my help with anything anymore." Ivy says moodily. She and Saphira, with their work, and now with the Evil Queen's curse, bump heads a few times. But they would always trust one another, with everything and anything. Or at least, Ivy thought they were. "So, I can't imagine what you could possibly be doing here, Saphira."_

_The Blue Fairy shifts from one foot to the other, one of her nervous tics that Ivy's come to recognize over the years. "You know there's no way of stopping her; all the happy endings will the lost if we don't do something." _

"_Saphira, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help you." Ivy clears away their clay tea cups. "There is no place in this realm for people to hid, this world will be replaced by this magicless world the Queen wishes to go to."_

_Saphira walks around the table, "You know about Snow White's baby, right? Then you must know that the baby is our only chance at stopping this plot. Or do you want this world to disappear?"_

"_We lost, Saphira, this world will be destroyed by the curse." Ivy voices the one thing that will never change now. "And we won't even know because we'll forget everything about this place. About the magic because the curse will erase everything."_

"_Ivy, you know something that can help us." Saphira says firmly and in her face. She always had that type of personality, even when they were younger. "Why don't you want to help us?"_

_A few reasons flash through Ivy's head in that instant. All of her troubles, or at least a lot of them could be traced back to Saphira. But then Saphira became like this, all nice and wonderful, the perfect fairy Godmother. "I have my reasons." Ivy says stiffly knowing that she was being the mean one after all Saphira's put her through. "But there might be something we could try."_

_Ivy doesn't look at Saphira when she says that, because then she'll see the relief in Saphira's eyes. "I knew you were a nice person, Ivy." Saphira gushes out like she always does when Ivy gives into her demands. _

"_It's a magic tree, the last one probably." Ivy says pulling a dusty old map from one of the shelves she never touches. The old parchment crinkles as she unrolls it. "It should be in this forest, right here." Ivy taps the area on the map. "I'll take you to it in the morning if you want."_

_Saphira nods. She would make sure that the tree is still there and well enough to be of use. And then she'll go and tell Snow White and everyone like it was her idea. Stealing all the glory for herself, she's always been like that. _

_The next morning, Ivy waits at the edge of the Fairy Grounds in her evergreen cloak waiting for her blue claded friend to come. Saphira silently makes her way through the streets, and the two of them slip out. After they get a safe distance from the Fairy Grounds, they hide their cloaks under some bushes and spread their wings to fly. _

_It takes a while to get to their destination. A loud silence is stretched between the two of them. All of Saphira's attempts at a conversation has either been shot down or ignored by Ivy. Just because Ivy has to help Saphira save the realm and such, doesn't mean she has to do it nicely. Ivy drops down into the forest and looks around. _

"_Are you sure there's a magic tree in this forest?" Saphira asks glancing at every tree she passes as if there is a symbol signifying the tree. "How can you even tell? All the trees look the same to me." _

_Ivy secretly rolls her eyes and keeps walking, letting Saphira fall behind. And people actually think she's smart. Well, she is clever, but not overly intellectual. "I found it!" Saphira doesn't seem to overly impress by the old tree. Its trunk has weird twists and turns in it. And it's much shorter than the tall thin trees of the forest. The magical tree sits in a slightly clearing like area. The other trees having been removed or didn't grow there because they could feel the magical properties of this one tree. _

"_We have to fasten it into a wardrobe, so that Snow White can be safely transported to their land without magic." Saphira says walking around the tree. "Do you think it would work?"_

_Ivy shrugs. When she presses her hand against the trunk or steps on one of its exposed roots, she can feel the magic flowing into her. All the other trees coo sweetly from the magic they feel. "We can't protect the entire royal family with this one tree. Its magic can only protect two people, at most." _

_Saphira sighs; this is obviously not what she wants to tell everyone. "Then we will have to make due with only two people." The only other thing that is needed for this plan is someone to fashion the tree into a wardrobe. But Saphira's probably found someone by now. "Ivy, I know that I'm not the best friend you thought I was but, thank you for helping." She sticks out her hand for a handshake. _

"_I know." Ivy replies accepting the handshake. "Maybe we can be friends in this new world, without magic." There are so many possibilities that could happen due to their curse, not even magically foresight can predict what could happen. _

"_You'll come to the meeting, right?" the meeting where Saphira tells everyone about the magical enchantment the tree can provide. Where she has to tell the others there that it can't save them all that the curse will eventually win out? Something along the lines of these thoughts must have appeared on Ivy's face. "This may have been my idea, but you found the tree."_

_Ivy sighs, "I guess I could go." She hadn't really seen the royal pair or anyone else in a long time. She didn't even know most of them. "I'll be there, to support you. Just like old times, right?"_

"_Right." They have a final shake on the promise. _

_And in a few days time, Ivy found herself at a round table, filled with knights, other important decision making characters, and the royal family. She knew some of the others, but not many. Saphira would do most of the talking, explaining their plan with the tree. _

"_But there is a catch. Yes the enchantment is strong, but all magic has its limits. The enchantment has only enough magic to protect one person." Saphira explains, her eyes shifting over to an old man, the one who will create this wardrobe. Ivy knows of the story where Saphira turned a wooden boy into a real one. This is that boy. _

_That boy may or may not be turned back into wood in this world without magic. After all, he was created from magic in his entirety. "A choice must be made." Ivy says when Saphira falls into a slightly awkward silence, watching the royal family's fallen faces. Saphira gives her a look of thanks as they flutter next to each other. _

_And the choice is made, and of course, everything has to go wrong when everything seems to be alright. "Here, Doc, this could help her feel better." Ivy says conjuring up some minty tea leaves. _

"_We can only hope that the wardrobe is finished in time." Doc says seeping the leaves in the boiling water. Snow White is so close to labor and the wardrobe is so close to being finished, everyone is on edge, just waiting. "Shouldn't you get back to help with the preparations you are having?"_

_Ivy nods staring out the window. "I'm supposed to go back with the Blue Fairy; we can put it off for so long." Outside, the storm clouds of the curse are slowly getting closer; everything is just about getting closer. Everything is just so close. "Do you hear that?"_

_They had been hearing Prince Charming's soft whispers, but now they are accompanied by Snow White's screams and the worst possible situation is upon them. "Snow White is going to give birth." Saphira whispers and rushes off. _

"_Oh what are we going to do, Doc?" Ivy whispers hovering over Snow White who has gotten very flushed and sweaty. Outside the storm is getting closer and there is not more time left. "I'm sorry but I have to go. Make sure Snow White and your daughter gets into that wardrobe." Ivy says to Prince Charming as she flies out the window. _

_Saphira flies up to her and they make their way towards the Fairy Grounds. _

"So you let August take her somewhere?" Eirys says raising an eyebrow over the events that Mr. Gold had just told her, about Emma and not helping her and how Eirys had seen the pair ride off somewhere on his motorcycle. "Were you even thinking about what could happen to Emma?"

Mr. Gold sips some nice caramel flavored black tea. "He wanted to help her with something and she obviously wasn't going to listen to him because of this custody battle, so I just helped him." Eirys is baking cookies, another gift for Mary Margaret no doubt.

"And you trust him, why?" Eirys asks not bothering to stop him from snatching a still very hot cookie from the cooling rack. Not only did Mr. Gold burn his fingers, but his tongue as well. "I thought you didn't like him."

"I was suspicious of him, and now, he's no longer a problem." Mr. Gold says avoiding the question with a nice side-step. This is obviously part of one of the elaborate plots Mr. Gold seems to always be a part of. "And why all the worrying, she is the sheriff after all."

Eirys nods, but even Mr. Gold assurances aren't enough to keep her from worrying. "Well, I guess you burning your tongue are enough to make me feel better. But I better see Emma tomorrow at the sheriff's station. Maybe I'll bring her some muffins."

Mr. Gold perks up slightly. "I look forward to tea then."


	15. Not a Happy Ending

_ "You know this is the craziest idea I have ever been caught up in, right?" Ivy asks, pacing around the forest at the edge of the castle wall. Their little band of misfits, Ruby, her grandmother, seven dwarves, Snow White, and herself going up against a castle full of knights. _

_ Snow White nods, observing the guards shifts through a telescope. "We're going to need air support; there are guards on every wall. Ivy, you're going to have to help in that department."_

_ The bushes next to them start to shake, their weapons raised in case their cover has been blown. "Relax you guys, it's just me." Ruby appears through the bushes, wiping blood off her face. "The good news is that your prince is still alive."_

_ "So why don't you look happy?" Snow asks. _

_ "I also heard that the Queen is also here." Ruby explains. It's a moment of dread amongst all of them. The Queen's power isn't something that they could mess with just for the sake of messing with the Queen; she could tear them to pieces and transport them to another world if she wanted to. "It's probably a trap."_

_ And just because it's the Queen, doesn't mean that they would just give now would they? It would be just lovely to see the Queen's face contorted in distaste. "But why is the Queen doing this?" Ivy asks, sure the Queen doesn't like Snow, reasonable to some extent, but why go through all this trouble just for a little princess. _

_ "I took away her happiness." Snow White explains. "And now she wants to take away mine."_

_ Ivy glances at the sky. The other fairies would have a good cover with all the fluffy gray clouds. The moon was barely halfway up the sky by then, which means they would be placing Snow White's crazy plan into action soon. "I'll go make sure the others are in place. Don't forget the signal." How the people in the castle won't notice it will be beyond her. But then again, they would be too concerned with staring at the ground, not up at the sky. _

_ "I got as many of them as possible." Saphira says when Ivy runs into her under the cover of a large cloud. Ivy could just make out the smallest glows of the other fairies, pinks, blues, greens, they were all there to support this mission. "Here, I got you a bag." The bags weren't much, but they had enough magic to put any escaping guards to sleep. _

_ The next thing to do is waiting. Snow had assured her that she would send out a signal when Ruby told them about the guard shift. A howl that is indistinguishable from any other wolves in the forest, the guards won't know what hit them. "There's the signal." Ivy says pointing to the little red fire arrow that burns out soon. _

_ "It's time!" Saphira yells. Ivy can't help but feel very impressed by her lung capacity. "Fairies, attack!"_

_ It's not much of an attack; the buzzing sound of about a hundred fairy wings diverging to fly towards the castle is the only thing that can be heard. It seemed like they were just in time as the guards had Snow and her seven dwarves surrounded. "Let's go!" Saphira just had to have a grand comment before an attack. _

_ They bombed the guards with handfuls of magic powder. The guards were asleep before they even hit the ground. One sniff and they'd be out until the next morning, and hopefully by then, Snow and her Prince Charming would be out in the forest frolicking away on a white noble steed. _

_ So that was wishful thinking, best case scenario would be that Snow White and her Prince Charming escape, hide out until the world stops hating them, and then figure things out from there. But, the world wouldn't even give them that. No, it had to be the worst possible case, where Prince Charming has already been kidnapped by the Queen, and the Queen tricks Snow White into a meeting where Snow White is to be killed. _

_ "Snow, you know this is the worst thing you can possibly be doing right now?" Ivy asks as Snow takes off all of her weapons, which is quite a lot. She had a knack of just hiding sharp things in the most unusual places. "Can't you at least consider another option?"_

_ "At least keep the knife between your, you know." Grumpy says, obviously reminding Snow about the knife that she had forgotten to take out from between her knockers. "We're not going to let you go like this."_

_ Snow shakes her head. "I can't have any one else getting hurt because of this war between the two of us. Listen, I'm not asking. I love each and every one of you, but this is something I have to do." She makes sure to glance around, warning them with her eyes not to follow her. "Alone."_

_ "Are you sure we should just let her go like this?" Ivy asks watching Snow White walk out the room unprotected and into a fight that she will most likely loose. _

_ Ruby shakes her head in agreement. "I don't trust that Queen, who knows that she's up to."_

"So, you're planning a trip?" Eirys couldn't remember the last time Mr. Gold ever considered going on a trip, much less talk about one. He had his cottage after all; he's always going there when he didn't want to be disturbed with something. Most of the time it was the bad kind of something. "Where are you going?"

Mr. Gold shrugs. "I haven't decided yet, maybe London."

"I don't think I've ever left Storybrooke before, you must tell me about your travels." Eirys says. She may have never left this town, but she felt queasy every time she was away from the ground like that time she went on a small boat ride with Mary Margaret. "I'll make you dinner before you leave, ok?"

There is absolutely no way that Mr. Gold would ever resist free food. Sure he would try to be all unwilling and everything, but it's obvious how much he likes food. "That would be lovely." Mr. Gold says. "But it's just a preparation."

"But I'll miss you." Eirys whines. The phone rings in the shop so she misses the surprised look on Mr. Gold's face and the sudden freeze of his hand on the teacup. "Hello?"

"Hello, this is Regina." With that cool and calculating voice? Who else could it be? "Listen, I've noticed some changes in my apple tree. Would you mind stopping by and taking a look at it?"

It's not often that Regina would ask for her help. Once or twice a couple months to make sure the greenery were alright, but those visits have stopped since the whole thing between Regina and Emma before very public. "Oh, yeah, sure, when should I come over?"

"Any time is fine; I'll be out for most of the day. I'll send in a check." Regina says, totally in control even when she's asking someone else for their help. There's nothing warm about her, even when she needs help.

Mr. Gold had managed to return back to his non-caring self by the time she came back. "You have a job today." He states simply. He pours himself another cup of the almond flavored tea. "Who needs you to fix their garden this time?"

He didn't like people that much were obvious. People tended to avoid him whenever he went to town events like parties or celebrations. And when he was there he'd try to keep Eirys as close to him as possible, who knows what kind of, shady people were out there. "Regina, something's happened to her apple tree. I hope it's nothing serious, I like that apple tree."

"I hope you don't eat from it. You don't know what Regina does to keep it so healthy." Mr. Gold warns. One wrong bitten apple could cause great misfortune. She knew that he would be getting a visit from the mayor, the tree wasn't sick in the conventional way.

Eirys laughs. "What like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? Don't worry; I'll give you permission to wake me up with a kiss." There is an awkward silence between them after her last comment. "Um, I'm just going to go and check out that tree then."

"And I best be going as well." Mr. Gold says getting ready to leave. He leaves his dirty dishes in the sink and rushes out the door as fast as he could. He retreats back into the safety of his pawn shop, surrounded by priceless antiques, and stuff he's collected over the years, in this world and the last.

The mayor lives very close to the heart of the town. "Henry, shouldn't you be going to school soon?" Eirys ask when Henry appears at the front door before she even gets up the driveway. He doesn't appear to be going to school, no backpack or lunchbox. "I could drop you off if you want."

"No, I've going soon. I was hoping that you were Emma." He admits sheepishly. "Do you know if she wants to leave Storybrooke or not?"

Eirys frowns. "Leave? I thought she was going to fight Regina to get you back." Everyone seemed to be leaving or disappearing these days. "Why? Did she say something to you?" If Emma secretly wants to leave and she didn't tell Mary Margaret, then she probably told Henry.

Henry shakes his head frowning. "I just have this feeling, you know, about Operation Cobra." Eirys hadn't heard that name in quite a while. The whole case with Kathryn Nolen had just started to quiet down and things appeared to be returning to normal, or at least as normal as things got around here. "August told me that she just doesn't want to see so she doesn't see, but she has to see, right? We're all counting on her to break the curse."

"Maybe you should look at things from Emma's point of view?" Eirys says brushing away the dead leaves of the apple tree. The leaves never looked this wilted before; even the healthy ones were dropping sadly. "She moved around with only a box of items, she has trust issues, and she left you in the foster system. Maybe she's not ready for us to depend on her like this."

"But we need her." Henry insists just like how his mother does. "She's the only one who can break the curse." Eirys secretly wanted the curse to be real, and then she could have a life that wasn't always ruled by the rules. "She's also my mom."

"So is Regina." Henry immediately frowns and looks as if he's about to sprout the whole Evil Queen routine again. "Look at it from the law's prospective; look at everything that's happened with you. The Court will say that Emma is a bad influence. She may want you back, but she's not ready to have everyone depend on her, the court will not give her custody of you."

Henry frowns; he's only a ten year old boy it's not wonder he didn't understand the gravity of the situation he was in. "Then how am I supposed to make her see? She has to break the curse or else no one here's going to have their happy ending."

"Well, you're her son, aren't you?" Eirys asks finding herself suddenly distracted from her work. "One that should be going to school soon." She shoos Henry back to the house to get his stuff. Turning her attention back to the tree, it was really amazing to see how much it died since the last time Eirys checked up on it. "Henry, do you know what happened to your tree?"

Henry shrugs. "I don't know, maybe she forgot to water it." He rushes off to catch the bus. Sure, Regina could have just forgotten about the poor tree, but in the past, the tree was like her prize. Something like a gold star on a child's test.

"Don't tell me you've been here the whole time?" Regina's cold 'surprised' voice rings out across the yard. Eirys couldn't tell how long she had just sat there, staring at the tree, but it must have been a while. "Do you want to come in and talk about it?"

"No thanks, I stopped by Granny's for some hot chocolate a while ago. I can't tell if anything's wrong with it. Sometimes, trees just start to lose their life force. Maybe it's time for it to go." Eirys explains patting the trunk of the formerly healthy tree. "I can order you a new one if you want."

Regina smiles, one that doesn't reach her eyes. "That sounds fine. Why don't I just give you your pay now so I can save us the trouble?" She walks into her house, setting some groceries on the dinning table. "I was actually going to make a little apple turnover."

"Oh, well, then I should probably leave you to your baking then." Since when did Regina bake food? Did she even know how to bake? Oh well, at least she isn't yelling or being the frigid evil mastermind Henry made her out to be. Check in hand, Eirys glances back at the apple tree, how many years has the tree even been alive? It seemed to be forever young, powered by something other than Mother Nature.

Eirys stares out of the window; she really didn't feel right about the way she left the conversation that morning with Mr. Gold. And then Regina is there again, everything is so strange when Regina and Mr. Gold are working together. "Hello?" Mr. Gold's voice rings in her ear. When did she pick up the phone and dial his number? And why?

"Um, I was wondering if you want to have some leftover muffins, from this morning. Why did she have to bring up this morning? Eirys is on the verge of banging her head against the wall for her stupidity. She had actually forgotten to get them to Emma.

"That sounds fine," Mr. Gold says after a moment of silence which felt like it lasted forever. "I'm still at the shop." Of course, that workaholic, he seemed to always be at the shop, never leaving until quite late. "Tea would be nice as well."

Eirys hangs up and rushes to find some nice tea to go with the cranberry and almond muffins she made. "I have muffins, and cherry flavored herbal tea." Eirys says spreading a piece of cloth over the glass displays before taking out her carefully packed snack.

Mr. Gold hungrily devours a muffin in the seconds it took Eirys to pour him a cup of tea. "I could get used to this happening." He gestures to the late night meal. He rarely goes out to eat lunch, maybe a stop at Granny's a few times a week, and Eirys is sure that he only eats frozen dinners when he's at home. Or ate least, that's what she imagines he does.

"So, what's going to happen to the pawn shop when you're gone?" Eirys asks noting the amount of dust that covered the surfaces of the shop. Mr. Gold had enough money to not even need the shop. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy it from you."

Mr. Gold shrugs. "You could take care of it for a while." He suggests, only the look on her face clearly shot it down. "The trip is just a tentative thing, dearie, don't worry about it."

Eirys nods absently crushing a piece of muffin into tiny crumbles. "What do you think is the meaning of dream? I've been having these weird dreams about a girl, but I don't know her."

"What of this girl?" Mr. Gold asks, it was Archie's job to worry about the mental health of the inhabitants of Storybrooke. Though he did worry slightly if his friend and next door neighbor was starting to loose it. "Maybe you should talk to a professional?"

"I guess." Eirys replies, returning to their dull silence of eating.

Neither of them was really expecting customers that late in the evening, so it was quite the surprise when Emma and Regina walk in like two women on a mission. "Do my eyes deceive me or is that the look of a believer?" Mr. Gold asks.

"Maybe I should go then?" Eirys says making her way towards the door.

"Actually, you could possibly be of assitence." Mr. Gold says suddenly grabbing her wrist. "It seems as if something tragic has befallen our young friend." Young friend? Since when did Mr. Gold, Emma, and Regina have a common friend? "I told you magic came with a price, that you would have to pay."

"Can you help us though?" Emma asks.

"Of course I can," Mr. Gold replies letting go of Eirys's wrist once he knew she wouldn't try to leave again. "True love, Miss. Swan, the only magic powerful enough to transcend space and break all curses. And I happened to have bottled some, made from strands of your parents' hair. So powerful, that when I created the Dark Curse, I placed a drop of it on the parchment, as a safety valve."

So, by the way the conversation is going, this curse that Henry keeps talking about is real? "So that's why Emma's the savior, she can break the curse." Eirys says coming to the same realization as Henry did many months ago. Everything seemed to make sense now.

"And luckily for you, I saved some for a rainy day." Mr. Gold adds. Emma opens hwer mouth to say something, only to be cut off by Mr. Gold. "But where it is isn't the problem, getting it is."

"Enough riddles, Mr. Gold." Regina says, even under all this pressure she is still a frightening woman, especially if the curse is true, then Regina really is the Evil Queen who placed everyone under this curse that Mr. Gold apparently created. "What do we have to do?"

"You don't do anything." Mr. Gold says harshly. It's strange to see something like this happen, usually Eirys just sits in her store watching it through a window. "It has to be Miss. Swan, the product of this magic, she has to find it."

Emma glances at Eirys who shrugs. "I can do it."

"Good, now tell me, is our little friend still in the basement?" Mr. Gold asks Regina. This time, Eirys isn't the only clueless one. "I knew you couldn't resist bringing her over as well."

"You tricky little imp. You hid it on her?" Regina demands.

"I hid it in her." Mr. Gold corrects lifting a large leather box onto the table. "And where you're going, Miss. Swan, you're going to need this." Inside the box is a simple long sword.

The decorative handle is exactly the same as the one in Henry's book. It's exactly the same as Prince Charming's sword. "This is the Prince's, I mean, her father's sword." Eirys voices out loud, looking to Mr. Gold for reassurance.

"I believe you know enough to find my little potion." Mr. Gold says shooing them off. "And you have questions, don't you?" He turns to Eirys once the pair leaves. She had been unusually helpful during the conversation that she wasn't really supposed to know about.

Eirys shrugs munching on a muffin. "How am I supposed to help Emma get this potion?" she didn't actually follow any of the conversation, and mostly just made guesses on the parts that she had some clue on due to that one time she read Henry's fairytale book. "And why does Emma need a sword? What's going on here?"

"Well, Emma is going to fight Maleficent." Mr. Gold says ignoring her first and last question entirely. "You know Maleficent? I had Prince Charming hide the potion inside her."

"You hid the potion that could save Henry's life inside a dragon?" It was amazing that she could think logically after all the nonsense information that had been dumped on her. In fact, she really shouldn't believe him in the first place, this world didn't have magic and magic wasn't supposed to exist here. "Are you trying to kill her?"

"_It's so tragic, Bae." Ivy says staring out the window of his grand castle, or one of his grand castles, she really didn't know anymore. "Besides, where were you the past few days, I brought you food but you weren't even home." _

_Bae snatches the basket off the table and rips at the cooled bread. "I was making sure something was saved for a rainy day." Which didn't explain why he went out dressed in his shabby clothing and the cape he stole from Prince Charming, nor did it really explain what he was doing. "Now, what was it that you were talking about? Oh yes, your little friend Snow White."_

_At least he had the decency to listen to her while he ate. "Doc says she's sleeping, or it's a curse, whatever the Queen did it's staying for a while. This is why I can't have friends, the Queen always does something and then I have to find new ones." She could count off the number of friends she lost to the Queen on her fingers, but that didn't do anything to bring them back. "You don't seem too worried about it."_

"_Let's just say that they will have their happy ending." Bae replies mysteriously in his elusive ways. "True love, after all, can break any curse." The elusive true love, too bad Prince Charming was in the grasps of the Queen. Or was he?_

"_You didn't help Prince Charming on purpose did you, Bae?" Ivy asks suspiciously, as much as she enjoys having her friends back, Bae actually helping such a thing happens is very strange. "What did you do?"_

_He shrugs finishing his meal with an exaggerated wipe of his mouth. "I don't know what you're talking about, dearie. But I like to see what true love can produce; after all, it's the most powerful magic in the world." _

_Call it coincidence or magic or whatever, but the two of them left the land pulse beneath their feet. And while Ivy usually feels the earth's heartbeat, this one was like a punch in the face. "You left that right?" Ivy asks once she could see again. Whatever it was, it was like everything was going to be ok again. _

"_True love."_

"I think it's about time they found what they were supposed to find." Mr. Gold says glancing at the clock. Eirys had refused to leave the shop until Emma came back battling the dragon with the potion of true love. "You sure you don't want to go home?"

Eirys shakes her head, she lived across the street, and it was practically a two minute walk. She had left the pawn shop for only a few minutes to grab a book. "And where do you think you're going at such a late hour, Mr. Gold?" He really didn't expect to get past her without answering her questions. "You better not be trying any funny business, you have thirty minutes."

"Right." He says heading out the door with the least resistance. Eirys must be at a good place in the book if she let him go without grilling him with questions. Not that he really cared too much about her weird pulp fiction books.

Eirys glances back up when she hears the roar of his car and the crushed gravel as he pulls out of the parking lot. "Now, where did you go?" Who said that she was just a normal bookworm? She had been working on a little something to show Mr. Gold, a picture of sort, even if she didn't recognize the person, he probably would. He knew all the people in Storybrooke.

He was still out when the bell above the door twinkles. "Um, excuse me, is this where I can find Mr. Gold?" It was a foreign accent, something definitely not from Storybrooke. Mr. Gold definitely had connections everywhere.

"Yes, but he's out right now, he should be back soon." Eirys replies tucking her sketch back into the folds of her book. "I'm Eirys, I live next door can I help you with something?"

"Actually, you can." The girl replies. It's actually quite scary, first the whole curse thing is true, then Emma has to battle a dragon to save Henry's life, and now this. This girl, looks exactly like the girl in her dreams. "I was told to find either one of you, and tell you that Regina locked me away. And that you two would protect me."

Eirys slides the picture out again. Her hair was neater in the sketch, but her eyes were the same, and Eirys even got the same expression down. "I don't know who you are." The girl looks thoroughly disappointed at that news. "But I've been having dreams, and they keep telling me that I have to protect you."

"So you will?"

"Of course, you want some muffins and tea?" Luckily, Mr. Gold hadn't eaten everything, and the tea was still relatively warm. "You can warm up in here while Mr. Gold comes back. Now, why would Regina lock you up?"

"I'm back, right on time." Mr. Gold says walking into the store with what appeared to be a golden egg tucked under his arm. He stops his tracks at the sight of the other girl next to Eirys. "You're alive?"

Eirys and her new friend stare oddly at Mr. Gold's strange arrival. "Of course she would be, why wouldn't she be. Well, she was locked away by Regina, which is slightly strange, but she can't remember anything."

"Do I know you?" The stranger asks staring at both of them oddly. She may not know either of the people who were supposed to protect her, but she did seem to enjoy Eirys's baking more than some other people did. "I can't remember."

"You can stay at my place for the night." Eirys suggests stretching her arms above her head. It had been a relatively long night. "We can work something out tomorrow, alright?"

She nods and follows Eirys across the street.

Sobbing is all that really could be heard through the phone. "Emma? Are you ok? Are you drunk?" Eirys asks flipping a pancake. "Do you need to talk to Mr. Gold? He's out on a walk right now, but I can leave him a message or something?"

It was kind of weird that Mr. Gold wanted to take this girl they were supposed to protect some place. He said 'you're not going to like what happens to next.' Whatever that meant?

"No, but, Hen-Henry is." Emma chokes down another sob. "Henry is gone."

"What?" Eirys pulls the phone away from her ear and stares at it like it was lying. "He's ten years old and totally healthy, what do you mean he's gone?" Sure she believed in magic now, but magic couldn't exist in this world as she understood it, the fairytale world had magic and this one doesn't.

Eirys hangs up after a while; she couldn't handle the sound of Emma crying through the phone for much longer. Nor could she really grasp what was going on. "What the heck is going on?" When everything goes south she would usually go talk to Mr. Gold, but since he's out of the picture at the moment, she would have to go talk to Mary Margaret.

Ashley would be there soon, so she had to drive fast. Of course, as if things couldn't get weirder, right as she pulls to a stop outside of Granny's a strange wave-like sensation went through her body. It was kind of like those stories where your life flashes before you when you die, it was like that, but she wasn't about to die. Every single moment with Bae, who she now knew was Mr. Gold and Rumplestiltskin came flashing back like a story and Regina the Evil Queen, Snow White and Charming, the Huntsman, and even Belle. "Belle, she's Belle. We were friends."

Looking around, she recognizes everyone in a whole new light: Ruby and her grandmother, Snow White and Charming, and that strange purple cloud coming out of the forest where Mr. Gold went. So that last one was weird, it brought on the same sensation that bad things were going to happen, again. "Rumplestiltskin, you're going to be in a world of hurt when you get back."

He was right, she isn't going to like what happens next.


End file.
